Chasing a Shooting Star
by Psycho Llama
Summary: A Klorel-OC-Skaara story; Aster goes in persuit of Skaara when he is abducted by Apophis, but is also captured and forced to be a slave to Klorel
1. Skaara's betrothed

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

* * *

General Hammond's squat, plump form paced through the cold concrete and steel hallways of the mountain complex. Sharp black business shoes tapped almost soundlessly down the memorised path to his office. His worry was in all respects deserved, his staff were hurriedly locating all the personal that had been part of the original Stargate mission, trying to find out more information on who or what had just come through that unearthly ring of stone. Ferretti and Kawalsky were calling the mysterious figure the '_man who looked like_ _Ra_'.

The door to his office was already ajar. Curious, but mostly grumpy, the General stormed through it and met one of the last people on the planet he would have ever expected himself to find in his office. She leaned casually against the wall; the anxiety carved into her pale and freckled features as she glanced about the office depicted just how out-of-place she felt. She wasn't all that tall, no older than fifteen by first glance. Bright red hair in a French plait reaching her shoulders. She had a narrow country-girl-like face, complete with an almost button-nose.

"And what do you think you're doing here, young lady?" General Hammond asked in his light Texas accent.

The girl gave him an odd look, as if he should know, but masking her own worry, "I'm here about the Stargate-thing," she said in a wavering, impatient voice.

The General did a double-take in disbelief, "What?"

"I was one of the people that went through the Stargate to Abydos," she explained dejectedly.

"Oh, then why don't I have your file on my desk, miss…" Hammond trailed off.

"…West," she admitted, "Aster S. West."

"Well that's why. West… that was the name of the General coordinating the Stargate mission," Hammond mused.

Aster nodded, "He let me, sent me off with them as the ecologist. O'Neill didn't want me on the team but my uncle, General West, had the final word. I went with them…" she trailed off, remembering her unrecorded mission to Abydos, "But… you can't charge me for anything, as there's no solid evidence to support my visit through the Stargate."

"Guess you learned that line a while back, young lady," the General smiled.

"I am not '_young_ _lady_', I'm usually addressed around here as 'West'," Aster told him coldly.

"Here, miss West? You're part of the airforce? You're not on record."

"The army, there I'm on record as Aster Smith."

"Smith?"

"My mother's maiden name," mumbled Aster uncomfortably.

"Oh, of course. Well, could you possibly help shed some light on the, uh, situation we have here? Miss Smith?" General Hammond asked, leaning forwards in his chair and lacing his fingers together on his desk, looking interested.

"You mean the whole '_man who looked like_ _Ra_' thing?" Aster responded.

"Mm-hmm."

"It's not Ra," she told him simply, "He had a snowball's chance in Hell of surviving that damn nuke."

"You sound slightly distressed by this," Hammond inquired.

"Well killing him was just stirring up a hornet's nest. It's not surprising that another one of them came crashing through the Stargate after you guys."

"_Another one_?" Hammond demanded, "You're telling me there are more of those things?"

Aster pursed her lips, waiting for the right words to come; "I… heard a lot of things when Ra captured us. I could understand what they were saying. Dr Jackson helped on that one, he taught me all this stuff about Egypt and Egyptology when he was working on the Stargate. Then when he found the catacombs over in Abydos and he taught me how to properly pronounce the language the people there were speaking. Some sort of evolved Egyptian dialect."

"Yes. Dr Daniel Jackson sounded like a good, true man. I wish I could have met him…" Hammond murmured in respect.

Aster paused, then realised what he was talking about. She kept forgetting that Daniel had been recorded as '_dead_' after he chose to stay in Abydos with his newly wed native wife instead of returning home. O'Neill had been he one that reported Dr Jackson as dead. Kawalsky, Ferretti and Aster all honoured that lie.

A soldier burst through the door, flinging it wide open, "General, sir, Colonel O'Neill is here."

"Good, good. Well Smith, if I can call you that, I guess I will see you later," General Hammond dismissed the young teen and left to see Colonel O'Neill.

"Hey Ferretti!" Aster smiled at her old comrade.

"Aster?" Ferretti laughed in disbelief, "Oh so you do exist! Did you get a look at the dead body they had?"

"Dead body?" Aster recoiled.

"Yeah, some sort of human-alien they killed when the bad guys came through the gate. It's got this weird pouch-thing in its stomach," Ferretti shuddered, "Disgusting."

Aster' nose wrinkled in disgust, but she didn't say what was on her mind, "Changing the subject, when are we going through the Stargate next?"

"Woah, slow down," Ferretti chuckled, "Don't know the full story, but I'm pretty sure they'll let you go. You're the only one 'alive' that knows how to speak that other language."

"Oh yeah…" Aster mumbled distantly, fishing out a green jelly from the canteen fridge, "Where'd all the blue ones go?"

"Blue? Jellies? I dunno," Ferretti shrugged, perplexed with the teen's sudden interest in the jellies.

"Sir, we have a problem."

"What is it, son?"

"Sir… we don't have a uniform to fit Smith."

Hammond looked incredulously up at the officer, "_What_?"

The officer gulped, "We don't have a uniform small enough to fit Miss Smith. We think she's an XS, but there aren't any sizes available. We can have one shipped, but that would take at least another week."

"I don't believe this," Hammond grumbled, "Smith!"

"Standing in the doorway, sir," Aster replied, leaning in.

"Do you have a black t-shirt or something? Cargo pants?" Hammond reasoned.

Aster nodded, "Pretty much."

"Good, I expect to see you in your 'uniform' at 0800 for the debriefing," Hammond replied sharply.

Aster shrugged, "Whatever."

* * *

"West?" O'Neill addressed with raised eyebrows. 

"Smith, actually. Glad to see you again, sir," Aster smiled. Dressed in a black Sponge Bob Square Pants t-shirt and a pair of dark green camouflage cargo pants.

"Smith?" the Colonel repeated curiously.

Aster shrugged, "My parents got a divorce, Dad left. So now I'm just 'Smith'."

"Oh, great," O'Neill replied with distant, and probably artificial, positively.

"So, I missed the meeting... didn't I? Like they would have saved me a seat anyway…" Aster shrugged, "When are we leaving?"

"**Soon**," Ferretti, Kawalsky and O'Neill replied in unison.

* * *

"Earth to Ferretti; that phrase is annoying," retorted Aster. 

"Uh, Earth to Aster; no it's not," Ferretti argued.

"Earth to Ferretti; You've been watching too many space movies," murmured Kawalsky.

"Earth to Kawalsky; if O'Neill catches us doing this for the fifth time he will _kill us_, over!" Aster sniggered.

"Earth to Aster; he's on the other side of the gate room waiting for Carter, over!" Ferretti smirked.

"This is Ground Control to Major Pain-In-The-Ass; **SHUT UP**!" O'Neill yelled at the three, his voice echoing in the steel chamber.

"Damn, c'mon Ferretti!" Kawalsky hissed, walking faster up the ramp towards the Stargate following Aster.

* * *

"_Ooh_, that freezes!" Aster grumbled, rubbing her arms free of the Stargate-warp chill resulting from 'the compression your molecules undergo during the millisecond required for reconstitution.' 

"Just as we left it, huh?" Ferretti mused, eyeing the stone Stargate chamber wearily.

"Almost," Aster replied, "We left it with a little more people last time…"

The Abydanian ambush sprang up, startling everyone, until Daniel appeared and stopped the villagers.

"Jack? Uhh... welcome back."

'Aw, typical Danny,' Aster reflected, "Hey, it's Skaara!"

"Right, the kid that idolises O'Neill…" Kawalsky nodded.

"Hehe, Aster's little guy-friend," Feretti sniggered under his breath.

"Shut…" warned Aster through clenched teeth and a forced smile to her comrade.

"Oh great," Kawalsky sighed, spotting Carter almost hugging the DHD, "Someone's made an attachment."

"So's Little Red," Feretti smirked, referring to Aster's red hair, which stuck out like it was on fire in the crowd of Egyptians clad in plain sand-coloured clothes.

"Skaara!" Aster almost knocked the Abydanian shepherd boy off his feet with an enormous bear hug, "How have you been?"

"Good, very good," Skaara grinned back.

"Here, thought you'd like this. You know, since you loved O'Neill's lighter so much," Aster fished a tiny metal flashlight out of her pocket, and handed it to her old friend.

Skaara looked puzzled at the think roll of hard metal, until he was showed how to turn it on. It was like giving a little kid the key to a candy factory, and entertained the Abydanian and his friend while Aster caught up with Shau'ri and Daniel. Then the batteries ran out, a few hours of flashing fun later, and the guys started yelling in panic and trying to fix it.

"Batteries..." Aster exclaimed exasperatedly, ''Here, some new ones,'' she told the group gathered around Skaara as she changed the batteries, ''When these batteries die, you just shove some new ones in… like so…''

"Aw, ain't that _cute_?" Feretti murmured to Kawalsky, indicating to Aster and Skaara laughing over the torch, "She must've really missed that kid."

Daniel saw Skaara get up from the group of teens and move over to their circle, and offer O'Neill the 'moonshine', the event earning many laughs from the elated audience.

"No, it's yours. I gave that to you to keep. Remember?"

"Thank you," Skaara replied, a little choked. He politely excused himself from the room, to check on the weather. As he strode past the joyful clusters of Abydanians, he tapped Aster lightly on the shoulder, "You… come too?" he asked.

Aster grinned, "Sure," following him out of the pyramid chamber.

* * *

The sun, no longer obscured by the desert storm, flooded the stone hallway with crisp golden light, spilling in from any crack it could slip through. Aster smiled contentedly at the shifting image of the endless sea of glittering dunes shining through the stone doorway. 

Skaara nodded, "Daniel will be glad, the storm has passed."

"Yeah…Ooh, I missed this place so much…" Aster sighed, arching her neck to gaze up at the limestone ceiling.

"I… there is something to tell you," Skaara struggled over his newly learned language.

Aster's eyebrows rose, her breath caught in suspense, "Oh?"

Skaara tried to hide his huge grin, Aster could tell by his shaking excitement that he'd wanted to tell someone this for quite a while. He managed to calm himself and say to her, bearing a smile too big for his face, "I am be… betrothed," he managed, stumbling over the word.

Aster's eyebrows arched a little higher, but nothing else changed on her face. She forced a learned smile to through her face, "That's great Skaara, congratulations!" she was glad that Skaara was too happy with his own reason to notice the change in her tone. Skaara continued on an explanation of who he was 'betrothed' to and about their two families both being important families and so on, but Aster was only half-listening with her fake smile.

Aster felt cold… and not just from the freezing winds blowing past. She had waited a whole year, staring longingly through her telescope, pining after the planet lost among so many other stars… How many cute little torches had she brought before being satisfied with the right gift for Skaara? Her life on earth had merely been a temporary time, for her, before she went back to her friend. Skaara, _whom she'd fought along side with in the war against Ra…_

'Forget it, just forget it,' her mind told her, lost in the futility of hope that there was. Skaara went back to tell Daniel that the storm had passed, and Aster stood there still, smiling happily for her friend.

Sighing, she returned to the festivities, her brain numb. Daniel, O'Neill, Kawalsky and Carter came past, explaining that they were off to see the catacombs. Aster passed the opportunity with a vague shrug and went back to the feast.

* * *

"Boy, I can't say I missed this place," Aster heard Kawalsky, before entering the main chamber. She strode in, smiled happily at Skaara and Sha're, and sat herself down next to the other soldiers. 

"You alright?" Ferretti questioned, a little concerned for his younger friend, "You're looking a bit tired there, Smith. Up past your bedtime?"

"Shut up," Aster shoved Ferretti jokingly, "Just… remembering…"

Ferretti's face went stony, "Things?"

Aster grimaced, "Ra. The Horus Guards. Fighting them in the desert…" Aster sighed loudly, "There are just so many scars… everywhere… that you _can't_ see, you know?"

Ferretti nodded solemnly, remembering the soldiers that hadn't made it. More than half of the soldiers that came from Earth had died, along with many, manyvillagers. Ferretti sighed and looked about, trying to find something to take his mind off the memories, and saw Daniel's wife. "Man, you've got to give Daniel credit. She's one beautiful woman."

Closing her eyes, Aster gently rubbed her itching eyelids, slowly becoming aware of how tired she really was.

The Stargate came to life with a sudden, surprising, hissing roar of moving rock. Aster jumped to her feet in panic, her hand groping about her side for the sidearm she'd left behind, "Oh, **crap**!" she growled, defenceless.

"Here," Ferretti stuck an army helmet on her head, "Keep this warm for me."

Aster thanked him and ducked behind a pillar, like of the other villagers were doing, the helmet slightly obscuring her vision. Aster poked her head around the corner, watching the gate's shimmering event horizon. Her crystalline blue eyes enlarged in wonder and suspense for the unknown… for this mysterious '_man who looked like_ _Ra_'.

The Serpent guards came through the vortex and started firing immediately, a plague of energy shots raining down on the mostly defenceless village people. Those who were unarmed hid where they could, trying desperately to protect their own lives. Aster was mesmerised by the alien figures, adrenalin and fear preventing her from moving.

The resistance seemed to die down as the defence forces of Abydos were dying out. Skaara was one of the few still fighting, adamantly firing bullets at the steadfast Serpent guards. Aster heard him yell for Sha're to make a run for it, "_No_…" Aster mouthed in panic as a guard caught Daniel's wife around the waist and took her captive. Aster's head turned quickly enough to see another guard heading towards Skaara. Fear gripped her innards, was Skaara even aware of the danger stalking towards him?

"**Skaara**!" Aster exclaimed in a yell, jumping out from behind the pillar. She didn't know what else to do, Skaara was about to be killed! Fortunately, her sudden appearance surprised the guard advancing on Skaara. It swung its weapon around and shot her instead. The blast hit just right of her mid-section, slamming her back against the stone pillar, sand and dust flying everywhere. Aster's right hand cradled the bloody, charred hole in her side as her limp form crashed to the sandy floor. She heard Skaara's distant cries of anger, and what Apophis said of him to the guard when Skaara had fallen victim, before the world around her started spinning, growing steadily cold… and then dark.

Apophis punched in the gate address on the DHD, turning his head to glance disdainfully at the ruins of the chamber, and on the ghost-white face of Aster, the strangely clothed girl that had tried to save her friend, but to no avail. Apophis assumed her to be dead and stepped proudly through the Stargate, guards behind him bearing the spoils of the raid as they, too, followed through the Stargate.

* * *

Aster felt someone shake her shoulders roughly, hearing O'Neill mutter, "Come on. _Come on_!" as he tried to rouse her. She opened her eyes wearily; taking in the hazy sight of the stone chamber like a near-drowned survivor would take in their first gulp of air, "Skaara…?" Aster winced, bringing her hand away from her injury, her fingers wet and sticky with her own blood.

"You alright kid?" O'Neill asked with genuine worry.

"I…" Aster couldn't reply. Skaara was most definitely gone, gone to a place of unknown horror and dangers that Aster could only imagine through the brief description of the universe Ra had given to her. Ra had told her so much… _why_? "It wasn't Ra," Aster whispered hoarsely, "Ra had long hair, Mr Golden… Idol… was… bald…" She groaned and let her head fall to the side, despite her comrades' protests and let sleep and unconsciousness to claim her.

* * *

"…Danny?" Aster squinted at the fuzzy shape sitting beside her bed in the infirmary, recognising him by the pair of fuzzy glasses she could see.

"Hey," Daniel greeted softly, "You, uh, feeling any better?"

Aster nodded stiffly, "I'll be fine by tomorrow, I the blast missed anything vital, I think..." she lifted her t-shirt a little to see the injury, "A few stitches… some bruising… Tell you what, it's going to be one helluva scar when it's healed!"

"Dr Fraiser told me that they had to take your appendix out, but since that got the most damage, you were pretty much fine," Daniel smiled.

"Good, good…" Aster shifted uncomfortably, "The guy who shot me… he took Skaara…"

"We'll get them back, don't worry," Daniel smiled encouragingly, putting a hand on his young friend's shoulder in a calming gesture.

"Before or after they witness the horrors of the big, bad universe? Listen, Danny, I know what's out there," Aster sounded pained, "Ra told me… a lot of things. About the Stargate… the aliens, all of it."

"He-he told you? What? _Why_? Why didn't you tell any of us what he told you?" Daniel questioned franticly.

"I wanted to forget…" Aster murmured, "If I repeated what he said, that would mean admitting to myself that it was true."

"What did he tell you that was so bad, you didn't want it to come true?" queried Daniel patiently.

"Ra told me that if he was destroyed… The balance of power would be upset and all war and all hell would break loose. It's started already, they know Ra is dead..." Aster sighed and sat up, "I'm going home."

"No you're not. Dr Fraiser said that you have to stay here for the night so she can make sure you're fully healed. Blasts like that usually kill… I couldn't believe how lucky you were when they said you were still alive."

"I'm going through that 'gate tomorrow," Aster told him adamantly.

"We'll see," replied Daniel after a long sigh, "Make sure you get some rest."

* * *

Aster held her shoulder-length fiery-orange hair in check with her favourite black bandanna. Her Sponge Bob Square Pants t-shirt now replaced with a sleeveless black t-shirt with a cartooned skull printed on the front; a black leather stud-collar around her neck and matching bracelets on her wrists. Black pants and huge black combat boots completed her ensemble. There was a slight bulge at her side, under her black skull top, where there were still bandages on her wound.

Aster mostly listened during the briefing, occasionally adding comments supporting Daniel's information on the legend behind Ra. And to balance Daniel being part of SG1, Smith was assigned a place in SG2, which scared Kawalsky a little at the prospect of trying to stop Aster from ever doing anything drastic, stupid, and directly against orders.

"Glad to see I have Aster the Disaster on my side. You sure you're up for the mission?" murmured Kawalsky in good humour, using an old nickname of hers.

Aster fingered her chunky bandages, "I am seriously going to **KILL** that guard who shot me…" Aster sighed, then grinned, feeling an impersonation coming on.

Aster and Kawalsky did their little impersonation of Dr Evil; "Ow! …You shot me you **a-hole**!"

* * *

"_Dammit_, it's cold."

Aster didn't give a response, all she was thinking about just now was how badly she would injure the Jaffa who had shot her, and how soon she could get her hands on him… She followed everyone else in dangerous silence, shooting moody looks at everything she passed.

"This looks like a good spot right up here!" Kawalsky pointed, Aster froze.

"O'Neill, sir?" Aster spoke clearly.

"Smith?"

"Sir, I'd like to carry on with you and SG1," Aster requested pleadingly, "Sir, you're not the only ones worried about Sha're and Skaara."

"Major Kawalsky?" O'Neill asked flatteringly, "She's part of your command."

"Oh, uh…" Kawalsky shrugged, "Knock yourself out… or preferably others, dismissed," Kawalsky grinned.

Aster smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Major."

* * *

"Hey, we're in Rome!" Aster smiled admiring the marble pillars and the interior of the building they were walking through, "I've always wanted to go to Rome."

"Actually they called this place 'Chulak'," reminded Daniel.

"Ah, whatever. I just hope we don't have to eat any olives while we're. Can't stand olives," Aster sighed.

"What's wrong with olives? They're good for you," replied Daniel.

"Nah, don't like them…" Aster murmured, taking in the cityscape in awe, "**Wow**… how incredible… should have brought my camera."

"Guess you'll have to settle with postcards from the gift shop like the rest of us," voiced O'Neill.

* * *

The group trudged dazedly into a high-ceiling room, where a banquet was being held. The guest abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared wearily up at them. Aster started to fiddle with her stud-cuff bracelets; she was placed at the head of the table with her companions.

"Ok. We're gods. Now what?"

"I have no idea." Daniel replied to O'Neill's question.

"Lower the tax rate?" Aster suggested more to herself than anyone else as the man that was blowing the horn interrupted her. Immediately, the guests bowed forwards, touching their foreheads to the ground. Daniel followed; Aster did the same.

The guards strode in through the elaborate stone door, flanking the entrance for the 'Gods'. Aster spied the Serpent Guard that had shot her and kidnapped Skaara, she tensed. 'I'll start with his head. I'll gauge out his _eyeballs_, I'll _strangle_ him, and then I'll… Danny?' Aster's menacing train of thought was cut short when Daniel jumped up and moved forwards to one of the self-acclaimed 'Gods'.

"Sha're, it-it's me," Daniel told her, hoping she would recognise him.

Aster thought she'd pass out, the emotional strain of seeing that her old friend, Sha're, had become one of **THEM**. Her body possessed by what Ra had explained as a '_Goa'uld_'. Aster yelped when she saw Daniel repelled back by the other Goa'uld, "Danny!"

O'Neill pulled a gun on the Goa'uld, but was stopped short by a guard knocking him unconscious. Sam had a hand on her sidearm, but didn't pull it out. The four of them, Daniel unconscious and O'Neill fairly dazed, were seized by guards and escorted to the 'dungeon'.

* * *

Aster glared angrily at the guard to her left, the one who had shot her, but did nothing because of the activated staff weapon poking into her back by another of the Serpent Guards. Aster managed to piece together that the guard that was responsible for the most interesting scar Aster had on her side was the first prime of the Goa'uld '_Apophis_'. 'Apophis…' Aster mused, brining up memories of reading through mythology books with Daniel, 'The Greek name for the Egyptian deity Apep, the giant serpent that guarded the underworld. No wonder the guards are all wearing serpent masks.'

"**Hey**!" Aster protested, the Serpent guard dragging her down to the dungeon had shoved her roughly into the chamber, causing her to tumble down the stairs and bruise her wound, "_Ooh_," she inhaled through gritted teeth.

"O'Neill!" Skaara called out delightedly.

Aster rolled over onto her knees, getting up slowly, "Skaara? O'Neill, sir?" Aster couldn't quite straighten up, the outcry of pain still reverberating up and down the burn mark on her side. Her small ears heard Skaara's astonished cry and the sound of his footsteps as he ran over to her. Through the babble of his native language, Aster summarised it in her head as mostly 'I thought you were dead' and 'Are you alright' –like sentences.

''I'm okay,'' Aster smiled, then her expression turned to one of anguish, "Oh Skaara, I'm _so_ sorry…"

"About… what?" Skaara looked puzzled from Aster to O'Neill.

O'Neill grimaced, "Skaara, it's about your sister, Sha're…"

* * *

Aster sat with her back almost against the edge of one of giant medieval-looking doors that sealed off the entrance to the enormous dungeon-room, the bruising down her spine from the raid in Abydos preventing her from leaning back. Her weary hand reached up and dragged the dusty black bandanna wearily off her head, revealing her burning-ember-red hair. She had been stretched to the limit. She was tired, injured and fearing that she and her companions wouldn't make it home in time before they sealed the iris… _forever_. She would be stranded on a distant planet, ending up either dead or imprisoned in her own mind by a Goa'uld symbiote.

Aster huffed and pressed herself further into the corner where the wall connected with one of the doors, fighting against the pain. Skaara and O'Neill were scouting the walls for weaknesses; Skaara hadn't said two words since the news of his sister Sha're. Aster didn't blame him, but was still confused about her feelings towards her friend; thus she had hidden in a quiet spot away from the milling crowd of terrified humans to try and get some peace.

Distant footsteps ground against the gritty dirt as they approached the gate-like portcullis doors to the dungeon. Aster paid them no heed. It was probably more Goa'uld and their Jaffa escorts eyeing up the possible hosts before the 'choosing'. One pair of footsteps stilled, then walked right up to the other side of the doors, right behind Aster. The tiny hairs at the back of Aster's neck stood rigid, she did her best not to react.

"What a pretty host you would make…" the Goa'uld's deep, alien voice sent shivers through Aster's nerves.

"Be polite," she chided in an icy drawl, "Females are called 'hostesses'."

"Very well then," the Goa'uld replied smugly.

Aster, unable to help herself, turned her head slowly to look at the one behind her. Dark chocolate-coloured skin… dressed in fine garments that looked exactly like they were truly made for the gods. Short, tamed black hair and rich dark eyes enhanced his already attractive features. He looked no older than Skaara. Aster's expression of dreamy shock froze with realisation, '_You're not speaking to whom you are seeing. The one you are speaking to has robbed the person you see of their freedom, of their very body!_'

The Goa'uld, in turn, looked Aster over briefly, he smirked in satisfaction, "Hair of that fiery colour is such a rarity… it suits you well," he purred, eyes flashing with some strange, alien light.

Setting her jaw, Aster asked in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "What, are you going to? '_Choose_ _me_'?"

"Oh no, my new host has already decided on, but I hope they make it dramatic…" the Goa'uld smirked smugly, trying to show off, "I tire of the host I'm residing in, a new one will be quite refreshing."

Aster turned away in disgust, ignoring the egotistic parasite.

Eyes twinkling mischievously, he bent down leisurely and whispered in her ear, "I am the son of Apophis, Klorel. What is your name, Tau'ri? I could have you spared."

"I would rather die along with my comrades, son of Apophis," the young teen replied simply.

Klorel chuckled, "Very well then. Do not doubt I will see you again, but I hope you recognise me." Heavy footsteps marked his departure, Aster wrapped her arms around herself, feeling suddenly chilled. Her eyes floated across to where Carter sat, trying to shake Daniel awake, and her body followed.

"Daniel? Daniel," said Sam, shaking him awake.

It hurt Aster, to watch Daniel deal with the news of his wife's fate. She gave her comforts, and left, again, to sit in a quiet corner in an uncrowded part of the dungeon.

* * *

Aster's fingers traced her stitches through the heavy bandaging on her side, her thoughts trailing back 'Klorel'. What had meant by, '_I hope you recognise_ _me_'? If he were getting a new host, it would be impossible to recognise him, wouldn't it?

The imposing iron gates sealing the mouth of the cavernous dungeon began to open. Aster sat up alert; she could tell something important was happening. She attempted making her way over to where O'Neill and Skaara stood, but the frantic mob of pushing and shoving prisoners trying find out what was going on prevented her from getting any closer. Not being all that tall either, Aster could berley see what was going on at the front of the dungeon. She managed to shove her way close enough to hear Skaara state gravely, "They are going to choose."

Aster was lost for words, looking around through the sea of terrified humans for some kind of hope. But seeing Sha're once again, so uncharacteristically cold, so uncharacteristically inhuman, and Daniel's reaction to seeing her, only increased Aster's feeling of complete desperation. They were doomed. Her attention was then drawn to Apophis' first prime, who was yelling at them to '_Kneel before their_ _masters_'. Giving one last, lost look up at Sha're, Aster knelt along with the rest of the crowd.

The hairs on the back of Aster's neck tingled as she came dangerously close to being examined by the Goa'uld's servants who were searching for possible hosts. She was near the outskirts of the kneeling cluster of humans and there was a Serpent Guard stationed not too far behind her to make sure no one ran away. Deep in thought of how she could steal the guard's weapon without getting herself or others killed; she was only pulled out of her revere by Skaara's loud protests as he was 'chosen'.

"**SKAARA**!" Aster yelled, and tried to move to his aid but was restrained when the Serpent Guard behind her grabbed her arm and held her back. She watched, pained, as Skaara was dragged away from O'Neill, from her, and out of the dungeon to a fate possibly more horrible than death. "No… _Skaara_…"

Aster's knees wobbled and gave out; the Serpent Guard let her drop to the floor and moved to the front of the iron gates, back into formation with the other guards. 'How could this **possibly** get any worse?' Aster thought to herself.

"Kill the rest."

"**Damn it**."

The only people not running and huddling against the back wall were Sam, Daniel and O'Neill, her honourable comrades. Taking her rightful place beside them, she glared right at the one called '_Teal'c_' hatefully. Hatefully as in the '_I want to cut off your head with a toothbrush_' kind of hate.

"I can save these people!" O'Neill shouted desperately. Teal'c aimed his staff weapon at O'Neill, Aster reached for her sidearm, just in case. "Help me," said O'Neill, honestly.

"Many have said that…"

Aster whipped out the gun, just as the guard turned on his own men and fired, '_How could he do that to his own soldiers_?' Aster thought incredulously, following the mob of frightened prisoners and abandoning her side arm. "But you are the first I believe could do it!"

As the prisoners escaped through the hole O'Neill had blasted through the wall, Aster waited behind for the rest of her team.

"Hey, come on!" O'Neill called to Teal'c.

"I have no where to go."

"For this you can stay at my place. Let's go!"

"**WHAT**? No way are we taking that thing with us!" Aster cried disbelievingly, "He's half the reason we are on this place anyway! If it wasn't for him, Skaara would still be safe and on Abydos!" '_With his oh-so-great fiancee_,' she added silently.

Teal'c looked regretful of what he'd done. O'Neill looked annoyed at her rude interruption, "Smith, catch up with Carter and the rest."

The injustice of being treated like a child burned in Aster's eyes as she trudged after the fleeing mob, muttering obscenities under her breath. Her heart ached for Skaara, the images of him being dragged, flailing and screaming, away haunting her.

* * *

"Warren! Casey! On my right!" Kawalsky hollered.

Aster was running right behind the colonel, feeling just as desperate, if not more so, to see Skaara. O'Neill reached the peak of the last rise, seeing the Stargate before him, and Skaara. "No…"

Aster stumbled up after him, but by then O'Neill was already running towards the Stargate, yelling Skaara's name at the top of his lungs. Aster hesitated, fearing what she might see of Skaara, but followed quickly over to the altar before the platform. She had only gotten half way there when she saw O'Neill being propelled backward by the ribbon device on Skaara's hand.

"**Colonel**!" Aster went to his aid, checking to see if he was injured. Seeing he was alive, she lifted her head to look towards the Stargate, to see what had become of Skaara with her own eyes.

The Goa'uld residing in Skaara's body was about to turn to the Stargate, when he spotted the red-haired girl he had been talking to in the dungeon. She looked up at him, and their eyes. He watched her eyes search his desperately, '_searching for any trace of the host_,' the Goa'uld thought, highly amused. He smirked slyly at the girl, then discretely beckoned Aster towards him.

Aster looked onwards in shock, but did not move any closer to him. On the contrary, she crouched down lower and further away from him, almost using the fallen colonel as a shield. She looked up at the Skaara she once knew with a look of fearful resolution. She would not go with him, whoever he now was, that would be simply foolish. But… she was afraid that he would go through that Stargate and she would never see him again. Her heart told her to follow, but her mind would not allow her to do it.

Looking slightly disappointed in her, the Goa'uld turned and left through the Stargate, swept away though a wormhole to some far away place in the universe that Aster could never hope to reach.

"Skaara…"

* * *

Now how was that for an authoress who has never actually SEEN seasons 1-6? I am basing this all on transcripts (from the lovely people at and ) and screen caps from the Internet. Feel lucky all those of you who have actually seen this episode… it sounds like a real good one…

I hope I'll be able to update soon, even though most of this story is still in the making.

All chapters have been edited, spell-checked, compared to evidence from the series and comply with the rules set down by FFN for our own good. Scout's honour! :)


	2. Aster's capture

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

Scene/time change

"…Speech…"

'…_Thought_…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

* * *

OoOoO

"I was sent along as the ecologist, to look for tracks or habitat signs of this… Puff the Magic Dragon," Aster explained snidely to O'Neill, who was currently not her favourite person in the world for always choosing Teal'c's opinion over hers.

"What is this Puff she speaks of, Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c asked O'Neill.

"Just Aster's little nickname for the large, invisible hummingbird with teeth," Daniel smiled.

"And what's your analysis so far?" O'Neill called back to the teen.

"That unless Puff's a herbivore I don't think we'll find him anywhere around here. There's no sign of any source of prey that's big enough for a huge flying creature to live off. Then again it might be a herbivore because it would need a lot of sugary substances to give it energy enough to fly and remain invisible which it could get from fruit…" Aster rambled on.

"Okay, that's enough, the last thing I need on this mission is _another_ scientist," O'Neill announced loudly, "Alright, well there's nothing out there," he turned around, "Let's get back to the gear and… where's the Stargate?"

Daniel frowned, "That can't be good…"

"Maybe Puff ate it."

"That really isn't a comforting thought," Sam frowned.

"I don't like this…"

"Did anything like this ever happen to you before?" Daniel asked the ex-Jaffa.

Something caught Aster's eye, like the glint of metal among the dense forestry. She turned to get a better view of the suspected area, pretending to just be re-doing her hair for the eighth time. She had it tied in a ponytail, then doubled-back to make a fan of burning red hair flaring out from the back of her head.

Since the disastrous rescue-mission attempt on Chulak, Aster had been stuck on receptionist duty. Answering phone-calls and relaying messages all day inside of the dingy military base had almost driven Aster stir-crazy. That and the fact that everyone had so warmly accepted Teal'c into their hearts. Aster had been pushing for an off-world mission for ages, and was finally admitted on this one as the '_ecologist_'. General Hammond chose not to disclose her age or any other details to the Secretary.

"Yep. Captain; let's start a box search. You and Teal'c take off in that direction, stay in radio contact," O'Neill ordered, "Daniel, you with me."

"And _me_?" Aster asked icily.

"Keep yourself well hidden and out of danger. We're going to meet back here; you'll be in radio contact the whole time. Just… guard the Stargate platform with your life!" O'Neill tried to sound serious.

"I hope, for your sake O'Neill, that something ugly and terrible thing eats me alive for lunch and you have to deal with all the nasty paperwork," Aster grumbled. The one thing she hated just as much as, if not more so, than Teal'c was when people treated her like a child.

"Oh, wouldn't that be a pity?" O'Neill murmured to himself.

"You are certain it was Apophis?"

"That's a coincidence. Teal'c suggests a planet to go to, we go there, and get practically ambushed by his 'former' boss," Aster sighed sarcastically, "What are the odds?"

O'Neill was about to argue that point, when Daniel interjected, "Okay, what are we going to do? We have to do something."

"That's not our mission."

"We could set up a trap for him here, in case he comes back for the Stargate. Because unless he has a spaceship parked in the near vicinity then his only way of leaving this planet is through the Stargate," Aster pointed out.

"Jack, he's the only one that knows where Sha're and Skaara are, we may not get another chance like this!"

"I'm on Danny's side. It's a big universe, we won't be able to find them on our own, Colonel."

O'Neill sighed, "Teal'c, what kind of entourage is he gonna have with him?"

"Two, perhaps three Jaffa guards."

"That's not much. Ra had at least six with him at Abydos, and that was just the honour guard. He had his servants to protect him also," Aster pointed out to Daniel.

"And yet we managed to nuke him pretty good," Daniel grinned.

"_We_? S'cuse me Danny but I was in the desert fighting off the guards off with Skaara. It wasn't _my_ idea to kill Ra," Aster informed them, "And I'm sure as hell not getting sued for it."

"Sue you? Who would sue you for the death of RA?" Daniel laughed.

"His son?"

"Ra had a _SON_?"

"You really wouldn't be able to tell from first glance, would you?"

"Doesn't even seem logical…"

"Tell that to whoever's directing this series."

* * *

OoOoO

After the first few energy bolts were fired, Aster almost lost it. Every time a shot was fired she expected it to be aimed right at her. So now, she was hiding behind some rocks with Daniel, cringing every time an energy bolt hit near them.

"This would have been _so_much easier if you'd let me have a gun!" growled Aster.

"Well, if we let you have a gun, you would be fighting them with us and in a lot of danger, and I do NOT want to see you get hurt," Daniel panted between shots.

Aster had to smile at that. Daniel after all was the only one that seemed to understand her. Carter and her weren't really close friends, O'Neill didn't like kids at all and Teal'c… Aster just wanted to murder him. Preferably painfully.

"Colonel!" Sam yelled, jumping to her feet.

Aster squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see the captain shot by their alien enemy, but didn't open them fast enough to prevent Daniel from following the same fate.

'_Danny_…' Aster's lips trembled, but she remained still.

"Teal'c," she heard Apophis address the last standing member of SG1.

"Oh of **COURSE** Teal'c just **HAPPENED** to be the last one standing. I mean, it's not as if this is a _set-up_ or any—ack!" Aster squawked as a blast just missed the top of her head.

Apophis caught the sight of Aster's bright red hair and immediately recognised her from the Abydos gate-room. He pointed at her, "You! Come forth! Immediately!" Apophis demanded. Aster stood up from behind the boulder with pale hands raised timidly, but her eyes displayed no sign of weakness. Apophis' brows knitted together, "You… I was sure you were _dead_ after the raid of…" Apophis paused, trying to pull the name of the planet where he had been so fortunate in finding good hosts for his wife and son.

"Abydos," Aster supplied the name, almost offended by how the self-acclaimed '_God_' cared too little even to remember the planet's name. How rude.

"Abydos, yes. How did you survive that blast? Is you planet in possession of a sarcophagus?"

"No, I just don't die that easily." Aster replied, undaunted.

Apophis chuckled, looking from Aster to Teal'c, "How funny it is that you should be working side-by-side, now… with the very one that shot you."

"**SIDE-BY-SIDE**? Are you_ KIDDING_ me?" Aster yelled, "My respect to my orders **NOT** to kill that… that _THING_… is the only reason I am not gauging out his eyeballs out with a blunt stick as we speak. Respect for my orders, which is currently waning."

"How very interesting." Apophis smirked, pondering over what to do with the highly amusing human and the traitor Jaffa. The monarch raised his staff-weapon and aimed it at Teal'c, "Jaffa Shova!"

"Tal shekka mel, I die free." Teal'c announced, bracing himself for the shot.

Apophis took one brief look over the dead bodies of SG1 before aiming to shoot at Teal'c. But he had disappeared; as had the dead bodies of SG1 and his own fallen soldier. He turned to the boulder, expecting to see the redhead human gone also, but found her to be still there and looking a great deal more worried than she had been earlier.

"Oh shizen! Puff ate Danny!"

* * *

OoOoO

"We sent your enemy through the doorway."

O'Neill looked horrified, "What about Aster? Short, redhead girl? You said they had her with them! What is _wrong_ with you? How could you let them take her prisoner?" the colonel barked.

Anteaus was shocked, "I thought the young one was an ally of your enemy. When we found you, she was threatening to kill your friend," Anteaus motioned at Teal'c sincerely.

"Well did ya think that all the screaming and struggling she was doing was just an act?" replied O'Neill through clenched teeth, visualising Aster being dragged through the 'gate kicking and screaming.

"She showed no sings of protest at all."

All of SG looked shocked at this, "_What_?"

"They informed me that she was very tired and was resting."

"Aw crap…" O'Neill groaned, "They knocked her unconscious…"

Daniel's face went a few shades paler, "Or worse."

"She was not restrained in any way. We did not think of it to be foul play," Anteaus reasoned apologetically.

"No…" Carter murmured, realising that they had just lost another comrade to the enemy.

"Do you have the coordinates?" Daniel asked hurriedly.

Anteaus shook his head sadly. O'Neill exhaled heavily, "And even if we did have them, we can't go there on our own. C'mon team, we're heading home..."

* * *

OoOoO

"Danny…?" Aster slowly opened her eyes, murmuring her friend's name. She looked up and saw the inhuman mask of a Serpent Guard staring perpetually forwards as he carried her in his arms down a dimly lit corridor.

"**STOP**!" yelled Aster.

The guard stopped, alarmed by the sudden outburst. Aster fell out of his arms and landed on the stone floor, collecting several new bruises as she went. Aster scuttled back into a corner before the guard could grab her.

"Where am I?" Aster demanded loudly.

The Serpent Guard retracted his helmet. The soldier inside was an old, war-hardened man with a metal scull-cap on his head. His appearance stunned Aster as she had expected to see someone a lot younger and a lot less condoling under the metal mask.

"I was ordered to place you in a cell until you had awoken, but I guess that it is too late for that now," the man put a hand on his chest, "I am master Bra'tac, loyal servant of Lord Apophis and First Prime of Apophis' son, Lord Klorel."

"_Klorel_? Ack! Things just keep getting worse and worse…" Aster filed though her memory. She recalled one of the Serpent Guards hitting her over the head with one of their staff-weapons and then… this. "What planet are we on?"

"I… have not been given permission to inform you of that," the guard sighed regretfully.

"Oh. Am… I going to be a… _host_?" asked Aster in concern.

"It is not planned that you become a host, no," Bra'tac replied honestly, "You were to be brought here until you woke. Then you were to be washed and made presentable and then be delivered to Lord Apophis, who would then give you as a gift to his son, Klorel, as a reward for his recent capture of a Tok'ra spy."

"WHAT? NO! What would that spoilt little prick of an alien want ME as a present for?" Aster yelled, her voice echoing off the stone corridors.

Bra'tac spotted two Serpent Guards patrolling the corridor and signalled them over. Aster saw the guards coming closer and pressed herself harder against the wall and causing herself intense pain from the bruises running up and down her back, "_No_…"

It sounded so pitiful, so fearful… Bra'tac felt almost sorry for the little human. But it didn't matter; Klorel would soon break her, loose interest and then there would be another pitiful human to feel sorry for. Bra'tac knew Klorel's temper to be just as violent as it was unpredictable. Klorel seemed to chew through servants as fast as his father chewed through soldiers.

Bra'tac led the way through the dingy corridors, Aster in the secure grip of two Serpent Guards following him. The walk this was quite long and mostly going up-wards. But the further they walked, the brighter and more richly furnished the corridors seemed to get. The walls were made up of stone and plaster decorated with beautiful wall hangings and fanciful lamps that glowed with some technology Aster had yet to hear of.

They finally reached a pair of high wooden doors with intricate carvings weaving across it. Aster shrunk back a little, afraid of what might lie beyond those two, intimidating doors. Bra'tac pushed them open with inhuman ease and they marched through.

A crowd of handmaids immediately mobbed the four of them, their target obviously Aster, as they took the girl away to be cleaned and dressed-up for her presentation to what they only knew to be the 'Gods'.

Aster looked herself over in the body-length mirror, astonished at how talented the handmaids had been to transform her into the unrecognisable person staring straight back at her from the mirror's surface.

She had been dressed in a simple yet beautiful white Egyptian-style dress, gold bracelets and anklets, and adorned with lavish jewellery and expensive make-up, but not overly so.

"This is not going to go down well…" Aster murmured, noticing that the dress was slightly see-through.

"You look _wonderful_," one of the handmaids assured her politely.

"That's what I'm worried about."

"Lord Apophis has called," a Serpent Guard announced resoundingly; "Get the slave ready."

* * *

OoOoO

"You have made me very proud my son," Apophis grinned triumphantly as the Tok'ra spy was escorted down to more secure quarters, "Therefore I have prepared a little… gift for you." Apophis waved the guard to go and get 'the gift'.

"Thank you father," Klorel bowed. He was quite puzzled as to what his father had in store for him. His father didn't usually give him things purely out of the goodness of his metaphorical heart. No, it was probably another servant he was to break or something similar. When he saw the Serpent Guard bringing the beautifully transformed Aster before them, all he could do was stare. After last seeing her last on Chulak with that army of Serpent Guards advancing on the renegade humans' position, he expected never to see her again. Alive, anyway. Perhaps that was when they captured her… Klorel watched as the guard forced her to kneel in front of the small gathering of Klorel, Apophis and a few of their guards.

Aster's face went as pale as death when she looked up to face of 'Klorel' and saw Skaara standing there before her. At first she thought it strange, to see such a familiar, friendly face in such a perilous time. Then realisation hit her; Skaara was a host. Klorel's host. And she was about to become his slave… she looked down at the ground. _What would Skaara think of all this? Could he see what was going on? Was he worried? Was he disgusted?_ Aster felt dizzy.

Apophis seemed amused by it all, "As you probably know, this lowly human was a friend of your host. Perhaps you can break both at once," the self-acclaimed 'God' suggested, then he and his troops left. No one moved for a while, the guards making not a sound where they stood.

Klorel bent down until he was eye-level with Aster. When she still refused to look at him, he grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his eyes, and smiled, "I must say, you look a great deal more desirable when you are not dressed as a man."

Aster's brain stressed as it tried to come up with a witty comeback, but she couldn't think of anything. She couldn't insult Skaara, even if there was something else controlling him. Luckily, Aster's lack of response seemed to frustrate Klorel more than any smart-ass remark would have.

"Take her to my chambers," ordered Klorel, "I have errands to run."

Aster was, again, grabbed by either arm and taken forcibly away by rough Serpent Guards. At least there were windows on the higher levels of the enormous castle they were trekking through. Aster caught a glance of the extraterrestrial view every now and then, the unfamiliarity almost making her homesick.

* * *

OoOoO

They finally reached a small, cramped spiralling stone staircase against the back wall of the highest wall yet. At the top there was a small door carved into the heavy rock. Aster couldn't picture Klorel or any of the 'Gods' taking this long to get from one place to another, she supposed they must use a matter-transmitter or something. One of the guards pushed the door open.

It was a secret door located in one of the far walls that lead to foyer of magnificent proportion. The walls were all coated in golden hieroglyphics, the stone floor covered in polished resin. A small group of musicians and dancers played quietly in a corner near the two-storey-high doors that connected the anteroom to the next room. Layers of white silk curtains concealed the view from the next room, hanging down in the place of where doors should be.

Through the curtain-doors the luxurious living quarters of Klorel were revealed. To Aster the room had quite an Egyptian-Greek hybridised feel about it. Marble pillars and walls of golden hieroglyphs. The biggest feature of the room was the bed, which was more than twice the size and luxury of any bed Aster had ever seen. Although it didn't look like a bed that you sleep in, but more the type used for reclining on during the day, thankfully.

But the worst feature of the room, in Aster's opinion, was the fact that Klorel was already there, in the room, waiting for her.

"That is in _no_ way fair," Aster muttered darkly.

"I am a God. Of course it's fair," Klorel grinned. The guards bowed and left the room, leaving the other two occupants to their privacy.

"You're not a God, you're a _parasite_!" Aster stated ardently.

"Now however did you find that out?"

"Ra."

"I gathered as much from my host's earlier memories of you and your little adventures… _Aster_," Klorel purred, playing with her name as he said it, "Aster… it's such a pretty name."

"It also rhymes with disaster," Aster remarked dryly, "Now why am I here?"

"You are here because you were gifted to me by my father, or did you miss that bit out?" he asked mockingly, "You are mine to do what I want with now, nothing else."

"You don't understand… I NEED to get home!" Aster was almost in tears.

Klorel granted her no pity, "I think it is you who does not understand, petty Tau'ri, this IS home. This planet, these walls and your restraints will be your confinements until I inform you otherwise, understand?"

"My restraints?" Aster repeated uncertainly.

"Yes, these," Klorel strode over to her and held her wrists, showing her the gold bracelets she wore. Klorel was a little surprised that she let him touch her with her current attitude. He turned the bracelets around so Aster could see the design better. The gold bangles Aster once thought to be just plain bands of gold were actually portraying a snake eating its own tail; not only a symbol of the Serpent God Apophis, but also of infinity.

"Wow, I never noticed that…" the blood-red tinkle in the ruby-studded snake eyes both intrigued and disturbed Aster with their liveliness.

"Oh it gets better, I assure you," Klorel leered. He ran his hand over the bracelets, the ribbon device he was wearing sparking with alien energy. The snakes on her bracelets and anklets started to swallow more of their tails, tightening the bands.

"Hey! Wait!" Aster yanked her wrists away from him, but the bracelets had already become too small to remove, as were the anklets. She tugged at them, trying to get them to move, but it appeared that the metal had already set.

"It's a gold-naquadah alloy," Klorel pulled her hands back into his as easily as a snake-charmer enticing a snake out of a hiding place, "It can do other things also."

"What other things?" Aster was losing patience quickly, her hands curled into fists.

Klorel smiled adoringly, "Watch the snakes," he whispered. His ribbon device glowed; brighter than before, emitting subtle waves of energy that washed over the snake bracelets and made them quiver. Like magnets, Aster's wrists snapped together. The serpent heads released their hold on their tails and in turn took the opposite's tail in their mouth, forming a figure 8 and binding them together.

"Does it work on the anklets as well?" Aster grimaced, trying the strength of her bonds.

"Of course. And the ones on your wrists can also join with the ones on your ankles if I so choose."

"Wouldn't we all _love_ to see that."

"Definitely. And," he tapped one with his finger; "They're unbreakable."

"I guessed as much from the naquadah," Aster held out her wrists to him, "Would you?"

Klorel moved his ribbon device encased hand over Aster's wrists mindlessly, staring straight into the girl's soulful eyes. He seemed strangely drawn to this human, why? Was he channelling his host's feelings? "Tell me," Klorel purred, "How close were you to my host?"

Aster stiffened and pulled her released hands back; "We were friends. …_Why_?"

"Just friends?" Klorel asked suggestively, closing the distance between them, "Are you sure?"

"Ask him yourself," Aster replied, undaunted, "He has a fiancee in Abydos. I am just his friend."

"That must be difficult for you…" Klorel smiled, almost condolingly, but more to himself than anyone, "He doesn't even know."

'_How can he know how I feel for Skaara…?_' Aster thought but was mystified.

'Know what?' Klorel could hear Skaara wondering inside their head, but didn't answer. He felt for Aster, he knew how it felt to be neglected. His father never paid him more attention than Apophis could spare. He left the room silently, leaving Aster standing where she was in wondering shock. Klorel stepped lightly through the silk veil doors and across the resin floor. He called for two of his servants to arrange accommodation for Aster.

* * *

OoOoO

Klorel stared off into the blue sunset in a meditative state, the minds inside his head in a state of turmoil.

'Please, just leave her alone! You know she is not who I am in love with, she can mean nothing more to you!' Skaara argued passionately.

'Do you really think that this is all about you? A host can be broken in many more ways than by seeing a loved one tortured to death. You do not know the full extent of my powers, Skaara.' Klorel's thoughts revibrated through Skaara's brain, 'You must have loved the girl at some point… I can feel a deep-seated attraction to her every time I see her.

'She is my friend. That is all. If you are feeling any attraction, it isn't coming from me.'

'You are lying, Tau'ri. It can't be coming from anywhere else.'

* * *

Hey, thanks for reading! Please review, so I can improve my writing and/or fix errors. Even if the server isn't working, please! 


	3. Bra'tac's help

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

Scene/time change

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

"For Apophis' _sake_! **WAKE UP**!" Klorel commanded, shaking Aster's arm. He had tried the romantic approach, sitting on the side of the bed and gazing at her lovingly until she woke up. He got bored with that when she didn't wake up after five minutes of solid gazing. Then he tried blowing gently on her face; Aster simply wrinkled her nose and rolled onto her other side. Still no luck.

Aster was having the most wonderful dream. She and Skaara were taking a walk through the desert, talking about the most meaningless things; then for some unknown reason it got windy, really windy. Aster turned away from the wind to see where Skaara was, but he was gone. And suddenly an earthquake hit and the world around her started shaking.

"Skaara…?"

"No, even better," Klorel purred, leaning so close to Aster that their noses were almost touching.

"Ack!" the girl squawked, shuffling backwards and clutching tightly to the bed sheets, "What are you doing here?"

"Aster, I am your _God_. And when your _God_ takes time out of his busy schedule to bid you a good morning, your _God_ does not expect an ungrateful little '_what are you doing_ _here_'," he told her in a deadly hiss. His brown, intense eyes glowing with an alien light.

"Well here's a complication. I'm an atheist, I don't believe in _Gods_," Aster sneered.

"Don't you?" Klorel murmured, his ribbon-device glowing as his hand hovered over Aster's forehead hypnotising her, "You will soon, that I promise you."

Aster was paralysed by the ribbon-devices hypnotic powers, unable to stop Klorel from bending down and gently grazing his lips over her cheekbone in a brief kiss.

"Hope you enjoy your breakfast, it looks quite nice today," Klorel smirked coyly.

"Never… do that again," Aster growled, regaining control of her body andtriedto wipe the feel of him offher cheek. She looked around the room "Wait… where am I?"

Klorel was grinning so widely it looked almost sinister, "In my bed."

"**WHAT**?" Aster rolled out of his bed and fell onto the hard resin floor; her panicked lack of grace and balance amusing Klorel, who sat patiently on the side of the bed as Aster tried to find her feet. The monarch never really used his bed anyway, most nights he spent alone inside of the sarcophagus hiding away from the rest of the world.

"Last night my servants tried to arrange separate quarters for you but could not find anything fit enough for something so important to me," Klorel crooned. "When they found you asleep in a corner of the room I advised them to put you in my bed, which was far more comfortable than the floor, don't you agree?"

Aster got to her feet groggily, "You said something about food, I demand to know more about this thing you call breakfast," she sighed in mock-seriousness, still tired from the previous days' events.

The grin on Klorel's face grew even wider, slimier in Aster's opinion, at the comment. The Goa'uld signalled to a servant to go get their food. Aster's arm reflexively curled around her empty stomach, knowing that she was still too drained from the recent starvation to plan an escape just yet.

'_Oh Skaara…_' Aster mourned silently.

The servant returned with the platter of food and set it down on an ornate wooden stool before Klorel who still sat on the side of the bed opposite to Aster. Klorel gestured Aster to come closer, but she only shrank away further; her eyes dark with conflicting mistrust. But Klorel had already sensed a weakness in her; "You need food," Klorel made an offering gesture at the tray of delecacies.

Aster gave him a harassed look but complied. She surveyed the platter wearily, finding nothing on it even remotely familiar to what she had ever seen before. She tentatively picked up a steaming, red thing the size of her finger off the platter, "What's this?"

"Kwefet," Klorel replied simply.

"Kwefet? Oh, I should have known..." Aster murmured sarcastically. She made a face and put the thing in her mouth, theorising that if it was good enough for someone of Klorel's importance to eat it was good enough for her. She chewed slowly and swallowed, trying to place where she'd tasted the flavour before.

"Aah… hot, hot, hot!" Aster stuck her tongue out, fanning it franticly. Kwefet, obviously, meant 'chilli'.

"I must admit, I've never seen someone eat one whole before… how was it?" Klorel smirked.

"Burning!" Aster replied, still fanning her tongue.

Klorel shrugged and helped himself to some of the food, not already having had breakfast himself.

"Don't suppose you have any toast and honey, do you?"

"Towst?"

"Never mind. Well, what stuff does Skaara like?" Aster asked, surveying the platter of odd food again.

"I do not know what my host's preferences are. I do not _CARE_ what my host's preferences are. Mention him again and I will find you a Goa'uld of your own so you can share the experience!" Klorel snarled.

"_Jeez_…" Aster mumbled, trying to find something edible on the plate of food. She took a bite out of some strange blue shiny thing that looked more or less like a miniature eggplant painted blue and bit into it.

oOoOoOo

"I don't feel so good…" Aster hugged her stomach, grimacing.

"Perhaps if you had been more polite I would have warned you about eating more than one Mej'et. It is used to clear the pallet after a meal. Too many, and you end up with a tremendous stomach ache."

"_Ooh_!" Aster groaned loudly.

"That one might've done it… wait… No, still no sympathy. What else do you have?"

"You're a monster."

Klorel leered widely, "Glad you know, my pet." He strode away, leaving Aster aloneto her agony, "I'll expect to see you by my side in the throne room once your pain has subsided."

"_By your side_?" Aster repeated indignantly.

"Why of course my little handmaiden. You are to accompany me wherever I go and accommodate my every whim so long as you are alive," Klorel crooned.

"Me? Why me?" Aster exclaimed.

"Because accepting my father's gift of you so highly is a good political tactic; because you are a Tau'ri from the Tau'ri planet and having you as a slave shows my triumph over your people and…" Klorel's eyes swept over her crouched figure fondly and he smirked. "You possess a certain… undeniable attraction."

Aster shuddered at the way he said the last bit and made an '_EW!_' face at him. '_But surely, if he's attracted to me then he must be only channelling Skaara's feelings. Is it possible Skaara really does…_' Aster's mind wandered, ignoring Klorel's departure, '_Skaara… I hope you're all right…_'

oOoOoOo

Klorel faltered in his steps, seething. His eyes flashed in rage. His host was attempting to reassert control over his body. He could hear the boy's voice screaming inside his own head, 'I will **NOT** let you treat my friend like this!' His resistance was quite draining for Klorel.

The Goa'uld tightened his grip on Skaara's spine, '**SILENCE**!'

Skaara soon ran out of energy to fight Klorel's control over him, 'Why must you do this to her? She has done nothing! She is just my friend… she tried to save my life…'

'She _what_…?' Klorel probed his host's memories for the evidence, 'She almost gave her life trying to save you, correct? That was a very nasty shot indeed…' Klorel played the memory over again and again through their mind.

'All for nothing…' Skaara's thoughts murmured hollowly.

'But so much _guilt_,' Klorel taunted.

'Just please… let her go!'

'The day I bow to your wishes, host, will be the day I become a Tok'ra.'

oOoOoOo

"I wonder where Danny and the gang are right now…" Aster sighed, staring up into the stars, "They could be anywhere."

"I wonder who in the galaxy cares where your friends are," Klorel replied bitterly.

"My fish are probably dead by now," Aster pouted, "Should've told my neighbour to feed them while I was away... That is so annoying! And my bank payments! All of them are overdue! Ack, there is going to be _so_ much mess to clean up when I get home…"

"Aster, you will not be going to your Tau'ri home. You you will be in slavery for the rest of your life, now get used to it."

"Fine. What do you want me to do, oh wonderful and powerful Klorel?" Aster smiled falsely, looking up from where she sat on the floor to Klorel, who was reclining on a nearby couch.

The Goa'uld prince chuckled lazily, "You say that, but you don't mean it."

"Could I ever?" Aster sniggered cynically.

"I am tired, close the curtains…" Klorel yawned.

Aster got up and untied the bundles of thick cotton curtains and arranged them over the empty windows routinely, closing the wooden shutters over the veiled doors for Klorel's privacy, "Are you going to spend the night in the sarcophagus?" Aster asked, piling Klorel's dinner dishes on a tray. Klorel had millions of servants, but chose only to have Aster accompany him for most of the day, annoying her completelyby making her do the work of five or ten servants at oncefor his own entertainment.

"No. My father lost the lives of some very trusted soldiers in battle today, all of the royal sarcophagi are in use," Klorel explained, slipping off his bed and changed into his night robes as Aster carried his plates out to the kitchens.

There was a loud '_crash_' from the hallway. Klorel grinned to himself, 'Was she that clumsy on Abydos?' Klorel questioned his host.

'On Abydos Aster was never subject to such unfair labour,' Skaara replied stonily, angry and frustrated at how this monster was treating his friend and how he could do nothing to stop it.

Aster walked back inside, blushing. Klorel raised an eyebrow, "An enjoyable trip, I presume?" Aster mumbled something about some of the other servants taking care of it. She went around the room snuffing out the candles and pouring more oils into the incense burners. By the time she was done Klorel was already in his bed, halfway to sleep.

"Goodnight Skaara."Aster smiled, whispering, before finding a small corner in the room and curling up inside it on the floor to sleep.

oOoOoOo

"His majesty Klorel would like more ice in his water," Aster told the kitchen staff, carrying in the ornamental pitcher. The servants obediently collected more chunks of ice from the freezing cupboard while other servants gave the pitcher another polish. Aster was surprised, but remembered that to the servants, Klorel was God.

"Um, thanks," Aster blushed and carried the pitcher back out.

She strode back through the massive hallway, careful not to spill anything. She still had to gaze in wonder at the hieroglyphs etched into the golden walls of the hallway and how detailed it was. Her feet made swift work of the distance, carrying her silently to where Klorel was waiting.

The young monarch was discussing something with another, minor Goa'uld in a lavishly furnished conference room. The two of them spoke mostly in the language of the Jaffa, trying to keep the information from prying Tau'ri servants' ears. Aster couldn't understand all of it, but got the general idea. Klorel was trading raw goods from some planet in exchange for Jaffa that would be converted to Serpent guards. '_Goa'uld politics…_' Aster thought wearily.

''…Those are the coordinates of the planet I have stationed my other Serpent Guards on. The map will show you where the naquadah mines are. You may mine as much as you wish but for every unit of naquadah taken off the planet I want a young soldier sent to be trained to be a Serpent Guard.'' Klorel told the other Goa'uld in the strange foreign tongue that Aster only knew part of though Daniel's teachings.

''Agreed,'' the minor Goa'uld nodded, watching Aster enter the room silently and place the pitcher of water on the pedestal beside Klorel's throne-like seat. The minor Goa'uld's eyebrows rose, "You have a new servant?"

Klorel looked over at Aster, "Yes, very new. A gift from my father, she was a captive from the Tau'ri planet."

"I thought the Tau'ri buried the Stargate on their planet," inquired the Goa'uld.

"Ruours are they have reopened the gate…" Klorel gave Aster another glance, then told the minor Goa'uld in their language so Aster wouldn't understand but kept his tone calm and even, ''My father is arranging a fleet to make an attack on the Tau'ri planet and reclaim it as his own.''

Aster pretended to be confused by the different language, but was mentally picturing herself throttling Klorel where he sat.

"And such an interesting hair colour," the minor Goa'uld grinned at Aster.

Klorel stiffened slightly, "Perhaps we should call this meeting to an end. I am expecting my father to visit me today. ''If he discovered me making deals with one such as you we would both be beheaded.'' "

The other Goa'uld nodded and reluctantly left, escorted by another servant to the Stargate.

"Is your father really going to visit?" Aster asked Klorel quietly once the other Goa'uld was out of earshot.

"No," Klorel replied flatly.

Aster's mouth twisted into a smirk, "One Goa'uld checks me out and now you've gone all huffy and pouty. Is something the matter, Lord Klorel?"

"I can see why my host chose another female over you," Klorel sneered, "I suspect he found you not up to his standards. By first glance it seems you would sleep with anyone."

Aster's face went white with rage. She marched over to the pompous prince and slapped him, hard, across the face. Klorel was stunned, his cheek tingling with pain. Then he thrust his palm out in rage and activated his ribbon device, propelling Aster high into the air and slamming her against the back wall in a single massive explosion of power. Aster's anklets and bracelets snapped together instantly, preventing her from any chance of escaping.

Aster slid to the ground, pain searing through her body. She could hear Klorel storming towards her, hissing angrily, "How dare you? How_dare_ you?" Aster felt him grab her by the arm and pull her to her feet, slamming her against the stone wall to keep her from falling back down. Aster's spine, once again bruised beyond what she had thought possible, connected with the wall and she winced. She looked fearfully into Skaara's eyes for refuge, but only saw Klorel glaring out of them at her. A sudden rage spread through her from what that creature had reduced her friend to.

"WHO DO YOU THINK **YOU** ARE?" Aster yelled, "Treating Skaara like that? You know what you are? NOTHING!"

Klorel looked as if he dearly wanted to throw her across the room again, seething with rage, "I am your _GOD_!"

"You are no God. You're not even a ruler, you're a _PEST_!" Aster hissed venomously, "All you are is an idea. A thought, and influence over Skaara. You are **NOTHING** by yourself!"

What Aster was saying was so close to the truth that Klorel almost lost it completely, "You will die a _thousand_ deaths for your insolence," he hissed under his breath, "And I promise you, each one will be more _indescribably_ painful than the last."

"**Bring it**," Aster challenged, her eyes boring into Klorel's glowing ones.

oOoOoOo

"You're lucky to get away with what you did alive," the servant girl said as she dressed Aster's wounds. Klorel's 'thousand painful deaths' turned out to only amount to being shot by something Aster could only remember as a 'Zat' thing, then beaten to a pulp by two or three armed serpent guards

"He deserved it," Aster muttered, wincing as the cold salve was applied to the part of her back the dress exposed to help heal the bruising faster, "What he's done to Skaara… I just want to _kill_ him! What was that thing that they were shooting at me with, anyway?"

"A Zat'n'kitel, I think. It's a weapon of the Gods. I am told that… one shot will only cause severe pain and knock them out, but two consecutive shots will kill and three consecutive shots will vaporise the victim," the servant girl explained. "I remember when a Tok'ra once shot our Lord Klorel… he sounded very strange, his voice went as normal as yours or mine…"

'_The host…_' thought Aster, knowing the servant girl mustn't know anything about the Goa'uld or the hosts, "Thanks, I can apply the rest myself," Aster forced a smile, taking the salve.

oOoOoOo

Aster stared at the brilliant view of the planet from the corridor window in awe, '_I'm sure this is Chulak…_' she thought to herself, '_It looks so familiar, but…_' Aster yelped when a rough hand grabbed her arm. A serpent guard, no, two serpent guards had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing her and dragging her down the corridor.

"**Hey**! What's going on!" Aster yelled, struggling against the guards. She looked at the bowl of salve in her hand, "I didn't _steal_ this it was given to me!" she growled.

"You're being marked," one of the serpent guards informed her sharply.

"_Marked_? That doesn't sound nice. What am I being marked with? Where? Why? How?"

"Be _silent_, slave!"

"Answer the questions, serpent guard!"

Aster was led to an unfamiliar wing of the castle, most likely where many ceremonies took place. She paled when she saw they were leading her to a stone table and a bundle of red-hot branding-pokers sitting in a furnace.

"I'm getting BRANDED?" the teen cried in disgust, "That's sick!"

"It won't hurt for long, it is just a small burn on the forehead," the other serpent guard reassured her in a nice tone.

"Lord Klorel ordered the mark to be in _gold_," the first serpent guard informed the second.

"...What's the difference?" Aster asked meekly.

"Gold marks tend to be a lot more painful," the second serpent guard smiled as the two serpent guards restrained Aster to the stone table, "Since instead of burning your skin we have to stick a molten gold and naquadah alloy onto it."

"I am so relieved."

"Only guards or servants that are highly important to Apophis or Klorel are given a gold insignia on their foreheads. It is a sign of great honour," the first serpent guard stated strongly.

The brander applied the molten-gold insignia to the poker and brought it over to where the serpent guards were holding Aster on the table.

"But I haven't got a symbiote! What happens if something goes terribly wrong? I'm just a human! What if this kills me?" Aster squeaked.

The three men shrugged, "Then you will be brought to life by the sarcophagus."

"But don't worry, the naquadah alloy stops the metal from melting through your skull."

"Careful..." the brander murmured to himself as he lowered the poker to Aster's forehead, "This is going to hurt very badly."

oOoOoOo

'I can't **believe** this! You have such a limiting complexion! _Nothing_ suits you at all! It's either that horrible _beige_ or completely gold. How could my father have chosen me such a _worthless_ host?' Klorel fumed in his mind to Skaara as the Goa'uld prince shuffled through his wardrobe, trying to select something to wear.

Klorel made it a hobby to berate and abuse his host as often as possible, to ridicule the shepherd-boy Tau'ri for everything he was. He hated his host for being so lowly, yet having a considerably happier life than he had. Skaara, on the other hand, was more worried about the fates of his friends than if he looked good in blue or red.

'I guess it will just have to be different shades of gold then…' Klorel thought glumly. He didn't really like gold; his father was too obsessed with the colour, '...**AGAIN**.'

oOoOoOo

"Honestly… I think the guys back on Earth might notice it," Aster observed, viewing herself in the reflection of the mirror.

"I see you still haven't come to grips with the fact that you are staying here _indefinitely_," Klorel snapped.

"Still angry from yesterday? I didn't see _you_ get tortured at all…" Aster tenderly fingered the sore flesh around the gold insignia on her forehead, "Why don't you have a different symbol from your father? Doesn't it get confusing at all?"

Klorel glowered, "Everything that I own, my father owns."

"You mean you don't have anything of your own?" Aster asked lightly, remembering how Klorel and the stranger Goa'uld had been talking about a military base that Apophis had no idea about.

"Well there is you. My father gifted you to me so I assume he can no longer claim ownership of you…"

"Again with the ownership thing! What about that little army you were talking about with that Goa'uld?" Aster added in a curiousundertone.

"You should not know of that."

"Look, Apophis finding out of your army isn't going to help Skaara in any way so why should I tell on you?" she whispered, keeping their conversation out of the prying ears of servants in the other rooms.

Klorel's mood soured, "Is my host your _only_ motive in life?"

"Ya. Otherwise I would have been off this planet in, like, five minutes," Aster smirked.

"_Of course_ you would have," Klorel smirked back with smarmy sarcasm.

"I don't blame you for wanting to have your own secretive army. I've done hundreds of papers on Ancient Egypt history and it's not uncommon for sons to overthrow their fathers. But… if you did destroy Apophis… what would happen to Shau'ri?" Aster asked, barely audible.

"The host would usually be destroyed with the Goa'uld. If I was to overthrow my father, the queen would be destroyed also," Klorel replied quietly, neither of the them wanting anyone to overhear their confidential conversation.

"Usually?" echoed Aster hopefully.

Klorel frowned, "I tire of this conversation…"

Aster's mood swung, "You can't deny that Skaara will always have an influence over your mind, your actions, Klorel. You will _never_ kill Shau'ri. And if Skaara doesn't stop you, **I** will." Aster strode to the doors before Klorel could think up a response. In fact, he had a better idea.

"Learn to be more respectful in the presence of your God," Klorel growled, aiming his ribbon device at her. He let out a small wave of energy, which caused the restraining devices on her ankles to snap together.

Klorel grinned to himself as he witnessed less-than-graceful trip and fall Aster took.

Aster swore, holding her bruised nose, "You _nasty_ little brat, that **HURT**!"

oOoOoOo

"_Ooh_, it's been a long day..." Aster sighed, sitting down on a bench beside Bra'tac, "Running errands, cleaning things, babysitting Klorel…"

"It is the servant's life," Bra'tac smiled grimly, "You have not been here long, perhaps the equivalent to three or four months in your Tau'ri calendar. Eventually, you will get used to it, and the long days won't be quite so draining."

"Four months…" Aster smiled to herself, "Feels a lot longer. Especially since Klorel and I got into that fight."

Bra'tac had to smirk at that, "I could hear you from the other side of the floor. What did he do to provoke you?"

"He insulted me," Aster shrugged, "But honestly, he was sulking for ages after I yelled all those things at him. He's so vain… And what's with this secret planet of his where he's hiding Serpent Guards I heard you talking about, Bra'tac?"

"From what I gather… Klorel is keeping a private army hidden from his father in case his father tries to attack him or relieve him of his Serpent Guards. And it is possible. All of the Serpent Guards Apophis has given Klorel are still loyal to Apophis. Klorel is paranoid that if he displeases his father Apophis will strip him of all he has and leave him stranded on an empty planet." Bra'tac explained what he knew.

"Ouch. Talk about family issues, sounds even worse than my family," Aster sighed.

"Your family?" Bra'tac inquired.

"My father was a very important general that was always away from home. My mother was an irresponsible flirt that would sleep with anybody and spent all of her free time at casinos. I joined the army to get the hell away from them," Aster shrugged, "I know they can't get me _here_."

"Indeed…"

Aster tugged absently at the hem of her Egyptian-style tank top. She preferred a top and skirt to the usual one-piece dress she had to wear when serving Klorel. Today she just had to run ?"

"No, it's just my scar actng up…" Aster lifted the hem of the top to reveal the scar. It was a jagged line of red running diagonally up her side with little red dots on either side where the stitches had been.

"You must be very lucky to have survived that," Bra'tac concurred, "Was it a staff-weapon wound?"

"Yeah. It was on Abydos, when they kidnapped Skaara… This guy was about to grab Skaara and I just jumped out from my hiding place, no weapon at all, and yelled at Skaara to look behind him or something… I can't remember. The guy shot me, then took Skaara and Shau'ri through the gate."

"A Serpent Guard?" inquired Bra'tac.

"Yeah…" Aster rubbed her eyes, "_Oh Shau'ri…_ I hope she's still hanging in there…"

Bra'tac was silent for a long time, "…There is some news from the village that perhaps you do not know…"

Aster arched her eyebrows; "I'm listening."

"Your friends came through the Stargate to this planet today. Teal'c tried to prevent his son from being given a primta. Your friends and Teal'c managed to escape, but Teal'c's son now carries a primta," Bra'tac sighed, "I am sorry for not informing you when they were here, there was no time."

"Don't worry," Aster smiled weakly, "I wouldn't have gone with them anyway. I can't leave Skaara the way he is. If I leave him, he will be alone... I wouldn't wish that on anybody." Aster sat up straighter, "Did they ask after me?"

"They asked if I knew anything about you."

"What did you say?"

"I told them that you were a slave to Apophis' son. They were very concerned about your well-being."

"Poor Danny… I hope he doesn't blame himself…" Aster smiled sadly.

"Rya'c, Teal'c's son, was very interested upon hearing that there was a warrior from Earth being held prisoner in the castle. He wishes to fight for the freedom of the Jaffa when he is older," Bra'tac smiled.

"How _wonderful_. Teal'c was the one who shot me, you realise," Aster looked at Bra'tac, but he said nothing. "Well, I'm off. I'll see you later." And she left, wandering off to find something to entertain herself with.

oOoOoOo

Klorel stared blindly at the beautiful scenery displayed before him in all its glory from his window. To Aster it resembled a nice looking day somewhere between late spring and early summer. And the planet's atmosphere was so much cleaner than Earth's.

Aster watched the guard leave the room as the shifts changed. Most of the Serpent Guards were training in the forest so every second shift Aster often found herself horribly alone with Klorel. The Goa'uld mostly ignored her for his part.

"What did you mean when you said, '_I hope you'll recognise_ _me_'?" Aster asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Klorel frowned, hunching his shoulders and turning to face her.

"In the dungeon, before the choosing you told me that you were getting a new host and that you hoped I would recognise you."

"That was because… when it was pointed out which host my father wanted for me, before the choosing, it was also pointed out that you had a very close reunion hug when you were placed in the dungeon." Klorel left out the fact that Aster had only been pointed out to him because he had been staring at her so intently.

"Oh…" Aster looked down at the floor and Klorel went back to gazing out the window and seemingly meditating. Aster reached down to a nearby couch and retrieved azat-gun she had seen a serpent guard accidentally leave there andaimed it at the back of Klorel's host's head in one fluid motion. Her aiming went undetected by Klorel.

'_Sorry Skaara…_' Aster thought sadly. Just the right moment, just the right circumstances.

She fired the zat-gun. It hit Klorel directly in the neck, and the parasite and host fell to the ground in a pained and screaming heap.

oOoOoOo

**SAVAGE GARDEN - To the Moon and Back Lyrics  
**

She's taking her time making up the reasons  
To justify all the hurt inside  
Guess she knows from the smile and the look in their eyes  
Everyone's got a theory about the bitter one  
They're saying, "Mamma never loved her much"  
And, "Daddy never keeps in touch  
That's why she shies away from human affection"  
But somewhere in a private place  
She packs her bags for outer space  
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come  
And she'll say to him  
She's saying

_chorus: _

_I would fly to the moon & back if you'll be...  
If you'll be my baby  
Got a ticket for a world where we belong  
So would you be my baby?_

She can't remember a time when she felt needed  
If love was red then she was colour blind  
All her friends they've been tried for treason  
And crimes that were never defined  
She's saying, "Love is like a barren place,  
And reaching out for human faith is  
Is like a journey I just don't have a map for"  
So baby's gonna take a dive and  
Push the shift to overdrive  
Send a signal that she's hanging  
All her hopes on the stars  
What a pleasant dream  
Just saying

_chorus_

(hold on... hold on...)

Mamma never loved her much  
And Daddy never keeps in touch  
That's why she shies away from human affection  
But somewhere in a private place  
She packs her bags for outer space  
And now she's waiting for the right  
kind of pilot to come  
And she'll say to him  
Just saying

_chorus twice_

oOoOoOo

Long chapter, but I really had to stick the cliff hanger in here, hehe. I am evil! Please show your support and give me a review or email, it's free and I am desperate and needy! Please! I'll write more! Promise! :) Just give me your reviews! FEED me Seymore!


	4. Klorel's planet

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

Pain ripped through the back of Skaara's neck, spreading throughout his entire being. He could hear Klorel screaming in pain in the back of his head and felt himself fall to the ground. Everything was in so much pain… Then he felt a hand tentatively touch his shoulder.

"Skaara?"

"What is… happening…?"

"I… I'm really sorry Skaara. Just listen; I _need _you to trust me, okay? I'll get you out of here as soon as possible, don't worry. Just remember; I would never do anything against you, Skaara, I _swear_…" Aster whispered hurriedly. It hurt her to see Skaara in so much pain.

"Asuta…" Skaara fought hard against Klorel, his words heavily accented, "Go, get out of here,_ please_…" he begged. He wanted her to be safe, at least.

"I'm _not _leaving you like this! I'll find a way," Aster tried to smile reassuringly.

"Please, tell my betrothed…" Skaara was struggling to speak, loosing the battle for control, "I…"

Aster didn't know what to say.

Skaara's body convulsed and he cried out in pain. The cry morphed into the inhuman roar of Klorel's Goa'uldly voice. Klorel thrashed around wildly, confused as to what was going on.

"Klorel…?" Aster asked meekly, hesitantly searching his eyes for a sign of who was in control of the body. Klorel's eyes locked onto hers, flashing dangerously, "_You_…" he growled furiously.

Aster threw herself at Klorel, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing onto his shoulder. Klorel, who expected anything but this from Aster, was in shock. He faintly heard Aster murmuring something about thinking that she had killed him between sobs.

"I was playing with that thing, then it fired and…"

"I told you, I am your _God_…" Klorel smiled, all his anger melted into warm fuzzies as he returned the embrace, "It will take much more than that to destroy me, my Aster, I assure you." Klorel felt Aster laughing reflexively between sobs with reassurance.

Klorel was absolutely convinced that he could make any girl melt all over him like this.

Aster was relieved at how easy it had been to convince Klorel that she was in love with him.

oOoOoOo

"So, where are we going again?" Aster asked curiously, walking alongside Klorel and half a dozen of his armed serpent guards towards the Stargate.

"Erebus," Klorel replied simply, his smile implying exactly which planet they were travelling to. The planet he had stationed his private army on. Aster expected the planet to be freezing from the attire she and Klorel were dressed in. Aster was happy just to be wearing sleeves again. Anything to keep Klorel from staring at her.

"Really? …Thank you," Aster smiled shyly.

Klorel looked confused, "For what?"

"For taking me with you."

"…I could never leave you behind," Klorel smirked after a pause, his cheeks reddening slightly at the small show of affection.

Aster smiled, looking up at the magnificent stone ring known them as the Chaapa'ai, or to her, the Stargate. A fleeting thought came of taking Klorel forcibly back to Earth through the Stargate to try and get him out of Klorel's body… But the six muscly serpent guards armed to the teeth with alien weaponry made her reconsider that action. That and the fact that they had taken her GDO when they had confiscated her uniform.

Klorel took her hand and led her through the Stargate.

oOoOoOo

"Aren't the serpent guards coming with us?" Aster asked Klorel as he trudged through the heavy layer of snow covering the ground. The wormhole shut off, leaving the surroundings deathly quiet apart from the wind whistling through the surrounding trees.

"They only came to accompany us to the Stargate. I do not want anyone else learning about what is on Erebus, not yet," Klorel stated loudly, dusting the gathering snow off the sleeves of his coat. He was wearing black gloves stylised to fit around the ribbon device he was forever wearing on his left hand and still keep his hands warm.

Aster crossed her arms tightly against herself to evade the cold and waded through the heavy layer of snow to follow Klorel. They were walking out of a bowl-shaped depression in the land that was lined with snow-covered pines, and there wasn't any apparent track leading to a village or some sign of civilisation.

Klorel noticed her bewildered look and explained, "It is a long walk to the village, and mostly without a path. I do not want any other Goa'uld taking an interest in this planet so I try to keep it as deserted-looking as I can. There _should _have been a Pel'tac waiting our arrival…"

"Is it always winter here?" Aster asked curiously, itching to build a snowman in the fine, powdery snow.

"No. It is either layered in ice snow or as hot the deserts of your Egypt. Such extreme weather is perfect for training serpent guards."

"Really?" Aster replied slowly, straying from the track of Klorel's footprints and walking over to what looked like a large impression in the snow. She walked right up to it and ran into a very invisible, but very solid, Pel'tac.

Klorel heard a soft 'thup' as Aster fell backwards into the thick snow. The girl propped herself up on her elbows, "I found the Pel'tac!"

The ship revealed itself to the pair and a door opened. Klorel looked mad. He marched straight over to the open door, "Is it so _impossible _to operate a cloaking device before your **GOD**?" Klorel yelled, "How much longer were you planning on concealing yourself from us?"

"F-forgive me, my Lord, I was neglectful of my duties…" whimpered the scrawny pilot that emerged to usher them into the craft. Klorel strode quickly inside, shivering from the cold. Aster followed. The warm air of the inside of the ship blew across Aster's face, bringing life back to her frozen cheeks.

"The citadel, now." Klorel snapped at the pilot on his way past.

"As you wish my Lord."

The interior of the Pel'tac was quite toasty. Aster took off her overcoat and held it in her arms. She smiled at Klorel, who was huddled over by a heating device trying to keep himself warm. He was probably used to higher temperatures. Aster stood up when Klorel strode over to her, as a sign of respect. Klorel rubbed his gloved hands together, "Are you not _cold_?" He sounded jealous rather than concerned.

"No. The cold's never bothered me much. Tell me more about the village, what's it like?" Aster smiled curiously.

"Self-sufficient, mostly. According to my father's rants about his own planets, I would say Erebus has turned out quite successful. There's enough religion for the people to be loyal and controllable but not rebellious, they economy is well balanced, excreta." Klorel explained.

"It must be difficult to run a planet when there is this much secret surrounding it," Aster sympathised, "I've played city-building simulations on my computer at home. Most of my cities died out after only a few minutes."

Klorel chuckled, "Perhaps I could teach you…" Klorel closed the distance between them soundly, "You'd make an _excellent _queen…"

"Queen? As in, a host for a queen?" Aster forced her face to remain carefully blank.

"Perhap—" Klorel winced, his face contorting with pain. The faze passed and the Goa'uld straightened up, looking pale and shaky. He avoided Aster's questioning gaze, turning away from her. He felt her touch his arm and looked back, she appeared worried. '_Concerned for the host, most likely_.' Klorel thought angrily.

"The host…?" Aster sounded as if she was more concerned for Klorel than Skaara. Klorel was also stunned to hear her refer to the Abydanian as 'the host' instead of 'Skaara' for the first time.

Klorel smiled, warm-fuzzies again swamping his head, "I am alright." That seemed to please Aster. He walked away to a different part of the craft to be alone, alone with his host.

Klorel had never had the luxury of being completely alone.

'**NEVER**! I will _NEVER _let you turn Asuta into a host!' Skaara's mind screeched, giving Klorel a migraine. Skaara had been panicked at the prospect of his friend becoming a host, he did not want her to share the same horrible fate he did, she did not deserve it.

Klorel was frightened; he had felt his host almost take control back over the body. The young monarch had never heard of such a thing... Was he really strong enough to handle this host?

'If you do not desist immediately I will make her a host NOW,' Klorel thundered back inside his head. He felt… weak. He needed the sarcophagus…

oOoOoOo

Aster looked around the interior of the citadel in awe. Every place the 'Gods' were expected to visit had been made fit to accommodate them. Furnishings and decorations of immaculate wealth lined even the dingiest of corridors travelled through by Klorel. An amazing wealth of technology existed in the citadel due to its position being so close to naquadah mines.

Klorel had gone before Aster could talk to him, rushing off through the castle and leaving her to the guards and servants of the fortress.

"Lord Klorel is resting in the sarcophagus," a tall, middle-aged serpent guard announced a few moments later, "He requested that we take you to his quarters in the citadel to wait for him."

Aster frowned, "The _sarcophagus_? Why? What's wrong with him?"

"He complained of being fatigued," the serpent guard replied gruffly to the impertinent question, "Come."

"Okay. So, who are you?" Aster had to take larger stride to keep up with the serpent guard.

"My name is Wosret."

"Aaah, the '_powerful_ _one_', right?" Aster recalled the lectures Daniel had given her on Egyptian names and their meanings.

"That is correct. And your name?"

"Aster S. West," the teen smiled back.

"That is… an unusual name. What planet are you from?" Wosret questioned.

"Earth. Also known here as the infamous Tau'ri planet," Aster smirked.

"Is that so? I have heard many stories about the people from the Tau'ri planet from master Bra'tac."

"Oh yes. Fighting for truth and justice, the whole lot of us. I was captured by Apophis when we were scouting for new technology to defend our planet. Now, I'm a slave to Klorel," Aster recited.

"How long have you been a slave to Klorel?"

Aster's brows crossed, "Gee, It's kinda hard to tell without a calendar. I guess it's been almost a year by now…"

"Impressive. I have not yet heard of a servant in Klorel's company to last that long," Wosret admitted.

" '_Last that_ _long_'? Why? What happens to them? Do they get shot at? Do people try and assassinate Klorel all the time or something?" Aster babbled in alarm.

"Yes and no, Klorel is known to kill his servants if they displease him. It used to happen quite regularly. I am surprised you have survived so long."

'_Skaara must be still trying to protect me…_' Aster thought distantly.

"Lord Klorel's quarters," Wosret announced, "Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks," Aster tried to say, but Wosret was already heading back down the hallway.

Aster pushed open one of the huge, copper-plated double doors that looked as if they were right out of the Dark Ages, but were probably practical for being in a fort. She swept through the silky curtains surrounding the other side of the doors and closed the heavy door behind her.

Klorel's quarters were a lot nicer, and a lot bigger, on Erebus than they were Chulak, and there was less of Apophis' influence dominating the rooms. Aster admired its every aspect as she walked along, from the hieroglyphs decorating the stone walls to the small arrangements of imported flowers and plants in little ornate vases and the exotic smell of incense being burned.

She also recognised some of the furnishings that used to bein the castlein Chulak, '_Moving in?_' Aster thought bemusedly. She moved silently through Klorel's spacious living quarters, marvelling at the level of detail and culture.

"Like it? I've been working on it for decades… it's almost impossible to find any time to come here, under my father's watchful eye. This will be where I live when I overthrow my father. By then Chulak will be reduced to ruins and there will still be followers loyal to my father infesting the area," Klorel smiled, waltzing up behind her, "It will be easier to start a-fresh."

"Why did you run off the sarcophagus like that?" Aster asked him softly.

"I felt unwell."

Aster could tell by the way that he wasn't quite meeting her eye what was wrong; Skaara was fighting his control. And probably almost winning, in some cases.

"We will spend the night here, but I _have_ to be back on Chulak before night tomorrow, or Father will suspect something," Klorel explained, "Which will mean a lot of travelling through the village and warrior camps to sustain their loyalty tomorrow…"

Aster smiled, "I guess I could handle that."

"Thank you," Klorel breathed.

"For what?" Aster looked up at Klorel, puzzled.

Klorel tapped her playfully on the nose, "For staying with me."

Aster blushed profusely, "Well you couldn't just leave me behind, could you?"

oOoOoOo

"Aster? Aster… Aster!" Klorel tried to wake the girl up, "For my sake! What does it take to wake a girl up?" Klorel sighed in defeat.

'…Wake her up,' Klorel commanded Skaara, letting the host have control of the upper body.

'What? Wait… no. I will not do anything to her for you. I want you to let her go, she does not deserve this torture!' Skaara argued.

'Host, you can either wake her up, or I will leave it to the torture-masters in the dungeon.'

Skaara sighed reluctantly, savouring what he could of this temporary freedom. He put a had on her shoulder and gently shook it, "Asuta? Asuta, please wake up…" Skaara called quietly.

Aster stirred, her crystalline eyes still blurry from sleep, "Huh? Who… _Skaara_?" Aster tried to blink through her sleepy haze to get a clearer view of Skaara's face.

"Hey," Skaara smiled weakly, "You okay?"

Aster nodded calmly, "Yeah, you?"

Skaara nodded, despite everything. His face became abruptly pained; Klorel was trying to reassert control. He managed one last message, ''Asuta, I trust you.''

"Next time, wake up when **I** say so," Klorel told Aster in a dead serious voice, "Don't **EVER** make me have to do that again!"

"I'm a heavy sleeper…" Aster mumbled, a little disoriented, "…W-was I dreaming or was I talking to Skaara just then…?"

"What? No, you were dreaming," Klorel lied. Skaara's loud protests rattled inside of his head, but he ignored them, "Breakfast?"

Aster nodded, "I'll go get it."

"No, no. There is a ritual morning feast I am to attend. You are coming too; which is why you have to come now so the handmaidens can get you into your robes for the feast," Klorel insisted.

"Really? What do they look like?" Aster asked in delighted awe, following Klorel as he led her to the awaiting handmaidens.

"I do not know, you shall have to surprise me," Klorel smiled.

oOoOoOo

"Wow, thanks! This looks great!" Aster grinned into the mirror. Although the dress was a bit more revealing than Aster would have liked to wear around Klorel, it was a wonderfully elegant design with intricate embroidery and all different shades of green. One of the handmaidens adorned her forehead with a jewelled headband while another made up her hair.

The handmaidens admired their handiwork as they ushered the girl out of the room, "Come, Lord Klorel is waiting!"

"Oh, right…" Aster blushed self-consciously at the thought of Klorel seeing her in the gown.

Aster was lead into the feast hall, a decorative chamber with an Egyptian theme and a long, low-to-the ground table, which was situated in the centre of the room. Aster was ushered to a cushion near the head of the table, adjacent to where Klorel would be seated. The rest of the guests all looked like priests or important people of the planet here to pay tribute to their God.

Klorel entered the room through a different doorway and the guests kneeling around the table immediately touched their foreheads to the ground, Aster with them. Klorel seated himself at the head of the table, dressed in the most decorative and extravagant attire Aster had yet to see him wear. Then again it was, after all, his feast and not his fathers, for once. Ritualistic formalities were exchanged and the breakfast feast was begun.

Aster was used to the foreign food by now, easily picking her way through the selection to find her favourites. She even knew how to cook some of the dishes they served.

"I like that…" Klorel smiled at her, his head cocked to one side, indicating at her new dress.

Aster's cheeks flushed, "Thanks, you too. Nice… hat," Aster gave Klorel's Arabic hat an amused look.

Klorel made a face, "It looks horrible, doesn't it? I _hate_ hats, especially in this host. Nothing I wear ever looks good."

"Less is more," Aster suggested, "You could always go for black and, say, dark reds."

Klorel twirled an exotic piece of fruit between his thumb and forefinger, frowning in consideration; "…That might work."

"Hmm," Aster murmured in agreement, "Dark colours, _definitely_ dark colours."

"My wardrobe is completely full of bright coloured clothing from my previous host, I will have to arrange a change when I return," Klorel groaned.

"And I'm coming back with you too, right?" Aster smirked in jest, knowing Klorel's habit for never using the word 'we'."

"No."

Aster did a double take in disbelief; "You're not _leaving_ me here. Are you? Don't you think at least your father will notice?"

"You angered me, I killed you," Klorel told her calmly, "That is all that he needs to know, and he will believe me, it's perfectly likely for that to happen… to anyone else."

"So what, you're smuggling me in here to decorate your quarters like a nice couch you thought you'd like in your new home?" Aster murmured, keeping her tone even to not disturb any of the other guests.

"And… I am going away from either world for a short while, with my father. I don't think you want to witness a planet being destroyed. I have seen it many of times, I know you would not enjoy it," Klorel continued, interrupting Aster.

"Enjoy it? I really underestimated how _sick_ you aliens are."

"I do not enjoy it. What needs to happen, happens," Klorel growled.

"That's not the reason," Aster told him quietly, "You don't want me there because you are going to destroy the Earth."

"Urth?" Klorel frowned.

"My home, the Tau'ri planet. I _heard_ you, Klorel," Aster looked up at him with disappointment.

Klorel's cheeks flushed, "I…"

"Blowing up my home planet is one thing. Not allowing me to say goodbye, not even _telling_ me, is another."

"We will talk later," Klorel assured her softly.

oOoOoOo

"We are not going to '_blow your planet_ _up_'," Klorel elucidated uncomfortably, "We are going to destroy your communications, your leaders, your authorities, and then we will seize hold of the remaining and take them as slaves, soldiers or even hosts."

Aster bit her lip; this sounded almost _worse_ than blowing the Earth up. And there was nothing she could do about it. What was worse is that she knew she should feel sick, violated and distraught at the thought of her home planet being overrun like this, but she felt nothing. Fear, she felt that, but she couldn't focus on the end of her world, all she could focus on was Klorel. She felt as if she was betraying her people. And for that, she felt sick.

Klorel tried to smile, "It would have been different if I had not known you. Father has granted me to take whichever Tau'ri I so wish and as many as I like. If you can show me where you live, I can save your family and friends."

Aster shook her head, still staring at the floor; "I don't have any friends, apart from Danny and the gang. But I'm sure Apophis will want to see them dead before you could get your hands on them. My family… no. They probably don't even know that I'm MIA yet. I have... no one…"

"You have me," Klorel smiled, taking her hand in his and squeezing gently.

Aster smiled, despite everything, "That's good."

"So… you are okay?"

"The part where you guys kill and torture a lot of innocent people is disturbing, Klorel," Aster scowled.

"But they will not _all_ be killed," Klorel promised, "I will try to transport as many as I can to Erebus, there will still be hope for your people."

"Right under your father's nose?" Aster asked incredulously.

Klorel shrugged, "There are ways. I have another ha'tak stationed in your planet's solar system. I can use that to traffic people to Erebus."

"As long as your father doesn't find out," Aster agreed uneasily.

"Do not worry," Klorel embraced her warmly, "I am doing this for your happiness. I will not let this fail, you have my word."

Aster hugged him back, her head resting on his shoulder; "Can I come with you?"

Klorel nodded, "If you so wish."

oOoOoOo

Aster walked at a fair pace behind Klorel's litter, enthralled at the energetic atmosphere and crowds lining the streets as the procession made its way to the city-square. It seemed that all occupants of the city had gathered for the parade paying tribute to their God. Snow fell from the sky like shimmering confetti, coating the city in white.

Dancers, musicians, soldiers and priests were walking, dancing, marching and playing their way along the road. Klorel's litter was being carried near the front of the line, with his most trusted servants and soldiers of the planet following him. Aster was part of this group, grinning with the excitement. Everyone was euphoric, even the usually stoic guards seemed proud rather than strict.

And for once, Aster found her future didn't look so bad.

She, like everyone in the parade apart from the serpent guards and Klorel, was dressed in white linen to symbolise purity, hope and light. Klorel had been decked out in gold to symbolise his 'Godliness'. Aster's white, hooded overcoat was so long that it trailed in the snow behind her.

Aster couldn't get over how cute the little children were, running around in front of the crowds of people on either side of the street and being hoisted up into arms or onto shoulders to get a better view.

The walk along the main road took a long while, and Aster's legs were protesting by the end of it.

The religious aspects of the ceremonies Klorel and the head priests were preforming interested Aster greatly, as she made mental notes on things to ask Klorel about later. With all the speeches and ceremonies preformed, the sky was starting to darken by the end of it.

The gathering soon turned into one big party, with food and the local 'beer' being distributed through the crowds by energetic servants celebrating the visit from their God. Aster managed to make her way through the crowd to Klorel, who was obviously waiting for her.

"Hey," Aster grinned, "Nice party."

"Glad you like it!" Klorel grinned back over eagerly.

"…Have you been _drinking_?" Aster laughed over the loud noise of thousands of people partying around them.

"Yeah, you?" Klorel smirked knowingly.

"Yup, but just a bit!" Aster added desperately when she saw the look Klorel gave her.

"A Dance?" Klorel offered, waving his hand towards a crowd of dancing people surrounding an orchestra of musicians from all parts of the city.

"With a _Tau'ri_?" Aster asked slightly self-consciously.

"With a Goa'uld?" Klorel pleaded.

Aster grinned, her face lighting up brightly, "Of course."

oOoOoOo

Aster rolled over and curled up into a ball, holding her head. She felt the all-too-familiar symptoms of a hangover, a pretty bad one at that too. Her head throbbed painfully. '_I hope Klorel's got one just as bad… he was drinking as much as I… **Oh** **shit**_.' Realisation hit, and Aster opened her eyes to check her surroundings. She found herself in the most luxurious bed she had ever seen… with Klorel.

"Oh shit," Aster repeated in a shaky voice, sitting up. She held the blankets to her chest tightly, '_Oh please, what ever God is not an alien, _PLEASE_ let me still have clothes on_!' She peeked under the sheets and found that she was still in her underwear, "Well that's good," she whispered to herself.

Then she looked at Klorel, giving the sleeping monarch the evils; '_You'd better have pants on, buddy._' She gave him another shrewd look and lifted the blankets at her end and trying to look through the dark to see if Klorel did still have his undergarments on, just to be sure.

"See anything you like?"

"Aaaah!" Aster cried in alarm. She looked intensely worried, "We didn't… did we?"

"Er, no," Klorel answered honestly, "Even when you are drunk, you are still very responsible. You have a very strong nature about you." Klorel smiled at her fondly.

Aster blushed deeply, "Thank you, but you're _sure_ we didn't…"

"We didn't."

"Good…"

"But we did share one very passionate kiss," Klorel grinned evilly.

"I remember that…" the memory flowed through Aster's mind. How they were so close… their mouths… his hands… "Yup, **VERY** passionate," Aster interrupted herself, screwing her eyes up and chasing the memory out of her mind, for now.

"That was nice…" Klorel smiled sleepily and laid back down, then shot straight again, "It is morning!" he cried in dismay, "We were supposed to have left last night!"

oOoOoOo

"Like a Prayer" by Madonna

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone  
I hear you call my name  
And it feels like home

Chorus  
When you call my name it's like a little prayer  
I'm down on my knees; I wanna take you there  
In the midnight hour I can feel your power  
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there

I hear your voice; it's like an angel sighing  
I have no choice; I hear your voice  
Feels like flying  
I close my eyes, oh God I think I'm falling  
Out of the sky, I close my eyes  
Heaven help me

(Chorus)

Like a child you whisper softly to me  
You're in control just like a child  
Now I'm dancing  
It's like a dream, no end and no beginning  
You're here with me; it's like a dream  
Let the choir sing

(Chorus)

Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there  
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery  
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem  
Just like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me there  
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there  
It's like a dream to me

oOoOoOo

Phew, that took a while. I had to edit that three times because it crashed twice and the third time the file got corrupted in a huge crash and I lost half of it. It is **SO** frustrating to have to make the same changes three times! Arg!

Anyway… I would like to thank my TWO reviewers; **ISHA** and **BlueJay**, who have given me such great reviews and support, you guys are inspiring!

ISHA: I'll update as soon as possible, I'm trying really hard to churn this stuff out because of how many times my laptop crashes and I have to re-edit and re-edit and re-edit everything. I hope you like this chapter and the ones following! :D

BlueJay: :D WOW thank you! That was such a nice review! Kudos to you, mate! Evil cliff-hangers rule! Hehe…

I'm updating as quickly as I can, and just for you guys! :D


	5. Apophis' attack

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

**Public announcement**: I'm really sorry, but there was an error in the previous chapter that you really should hear: I accidentally got "Tel'tac" mixed up with "Pel'tac" and said "bridge" instead of "small ship-thing", thanks Isha for pointing that out! Thank you for your time. This chapter is rated PG-13 for bad language!

oOoOoOo

Aster rolled over and out of the bed and quickly slipped on a fresh and cleaned dress on that the handmaidens had delivered during the previous day's feast ceremony. She tied her hair up in a quick ponytail with a scrap piece of linen and promptly followed Klorel, who had gotten dressed at inhuman speeds, out of the chamber.

"Do you think Apophis will notice just one extra night?" Aster asked in concern.

"Yes," Klorel replied gravelly, "But he will not learn of Erebus. I will find an excuse…" he smirked, "He will believe me if I say it was of my own clumsiness or stupidity."

Aster touched his hand as they strode briskly down the corridors heading towards the Tel'tac, "It'll be fine," her smile full of reassurance.

Klorel smiled back; slightly more relieved.

oOoOoOo

Klorel moved with surprising speed down the corridors, towards the room the serpent guards had reported him to be in. Aster scuttled after him, along with the half dozen guards flanking the couple. Klorel looked unusually anxious, he was worried about his father being suspicious about his absence.

When they finally reached the room Apophis was said to be in, Klorel hesitated at the door. He scowled at the twin stone doors, and threw them open viciously, causing them to swing wide open and slammed against the ornate walls of the chamber. The commotion disturbed Apophis from his silent revere; he turned away from the window he had been staring out of to see his son marching steadfastly towards him, his face set.

"Father, you wished to speak to me?" Klorel asked levelly.

"You are late," Apophis replied coldly, "I demand to know where you were."

"I was away," Klorel replied coolly.

Clearly unfazed by his son's inadequate response, Apophis raised an eyebrow, "Away _where_?"

"…Away taking care of… things," Klorel growled stubbornly.

Apophis was close to outraged at his son's insolence. He opened his mouth to berate his son, when a thought occurred to him. He looked at Klorel, then behind him where Aster was stationed politely beside the doors with Klorel's flanking of serpent guards, and then back at his son.

Klorel blushed deeply at the implications Apophis held in the look that he gave him.

Aster had to bite her tongue to prevent her from yelling out denials and defences at how she was not a slut and that she would never sleep with Klorel and that Apophis was a pervert for even suggesting it. Instead her cheeks went scarlet and she scowled at the two self-acclaimed 'Gods'. She could hear one of the serpent guards near her stifle a snigger.

"…I expected better of you," Apophis murmured darkly.

Aster's jaw dropped in outrage. A few of the serpent guards beside her chuckled. Klorel's brows knitted together defensively at his father.

Apophis turned and walked back to the window, continuing his speech in a louder tone, "We shall depart for the Tau'ri world when the sun is highest. I expect you to be aboard the Ha'tak you will be travelling by then and not… distracting yourself," Apophis gave him a rather dirty look, "Is that understood?"

"Yes father," Klorel half-bowed.

"Good," Apophis snapped. He stormed out of the room, scrutinising Aster briefly as he made his way out.

No one moved until the sound of Apophis' sharp footsteps had faded from earshot. Klorel still stood where he was, not quite afraid but hesitant to face Aster after what had just happened. Taking a deep breath, he held his head high and turned around to see her, acting macho in front of the serpent guards. But instead of seeing the seething, angry teenager glaring daggers at him, as he had expected, Aster was simply trying not to laugh.

Their eyes connected and they both burst out laughing. "Did you see the look he gave me?" Klorel asked, his eyes teary with laughter.

Aster tried to breathe between laughs, "That was just classic! 'Distracting yourself'? You'd better watch out, I think he's onto you," Aster teased.

"About as much as I'm onto you," Klorel sniggered, leading her out of the chamber so they could go get some breakfast.

oOoOoOo

"Aw, I love these things!" Aster exclaimed softly at the little plate of pastries shaped into hieroglyphs. She and Klorel were sitting on the elaborate bed in Klorel's quarters with the selection of food the servants had brought in, "But you didn't need to ask the other servants to get it, you know, I could have gone," Aster looked worried, "What if they start spreading rumours?"

"Rumours? About us?" Klorel looked highly amused. Amused exactly the way Aster wasn't. "There were rumours already circulating from what was said by my father," Klorel tried to reassure her.

"By the serpent guards? But I thought they were warriors, not gossipers."

"Ladies gossip, men talk," Klorel smirked, "Besides, are you completely opposed to the idea of what the rumours are saying?" Klorel tried to look saddened.

"Aw, I just don't want the whole planet buzzing with it," Aster sighed, trying to evade the smirk that Klorel's puppy dog eyes were causing her.

"This whole planet is full of insignificant fools that are of no consequence to us, my dear Aster. The most significant person on this planet apart from us, my Father, is quite convinced that I am being 'distracted' by you right now," Klorel stated, making Aster chortle, "Do not care what anyone says about you, I know that the rumours are not true."

Aster's smile softened, "Which rumours? The ones that we slept together or the ones that you love me?"

Klorel paused, trying to think of a good reply, "Technically, we DID actually sleep together. We shared the same bed for the night and that is sleeping together, although without the implications…" Klorel sighed, '_I love you, I love you, I love you, I just can't say it!_'

Aster sensed the tension and quickly changed the subject, "The sun is almost at it's highest…" Aster murmured absently, collecting up the plates.

"Aster…" Klorel bit his lip, 'What am I going to say?' "…Leave the plates. The servants will clean them up."

"Oh, thanks," Aster smiled, trying to show that nothing had changed.

Klorel smiled back nervously, '_I love you, I love you, I love you!_' "Let's go…" '_I love you and I really, _really _want to sleep with you but I don't know what to say!_'

oOoOoOo

"Hey," Aster greeted Bra'tac on board the Ha'tak as the ship prepared to launch.

"Young Aster," Bra'tac smiled, "It is indeed a great pleasure to see you again."

"It's good to see you too," Aster grinned, "…So tell me, how bad are the rumours?"

"You should not be concerned about what others say about you," Bra'tac replied calmly.

"Oh that's _exactly_ what Klorel said!" Aster sighed in defeat. "Well the truth is; we did not sleep together, at all!"

Bra'tac raised an eyebrow, "That one… I have not hear of."

"Oh… Well now you know."

Bra'tac chuckled.

Aster tried changing the subject, "Do you really think it is a good idea to be leaving Klorel inside a sarcophagus without any guards?" she asked uneasily.

"There will be little time for rest in the sarcophagus once Lord Klorel and Lord Apophis arrive at your planet, so they are getting as much now as they can. And there are no current threats to Lord Klorel aboard this ship; you should not be worried. …Why do you ask?" Bra'tac frowned.

"I don't know… I've just got this weird feeling…"

"You may feel off-balance because you are unused to travelling at this speed," Bra'tac theorised, "But do not worry, it only takes a few minutes to get used to."

"Hmm…" Aster murmured quietly, staring out of the window.

oOoOoOo

Summoned by the call of the intercom, Aster followed the rest of the ship's occupants to the gate room. She took her place among the Jaffa and waited patiently for the visual communication device to activate.

From where he was hidden behind the crates, Daniel's jaw dropped, "_Guys_!" he hissed quietly, "It's Aster! She's beside the sarcophagus! Look!"

Three more heads poked discretely from behind the shipping crate to catch sight of Aster. Sam was the first to whisper something, "Oh my God… she has one of those things on her forehead…"

Before Teal'c could tell them what that meant, the long range visual communication device came to life and Apophis' image appeared before them inside of the glowing orb.

"Chel hol, Jaffa," Apophis' voice echoed through the room. SG1 watched as their Aster and the other Jaffa bowed before their 'God'.

"The end of a dark moment in Goa'uld history approaches. Soon we will wipe out the scourge that plagues us," Apophis' eyes hovered over Aster as the word '_scourge_' passed his lips, "I will rejoin you as we come out of the shadows. Until then, you are to follow all orders of my son...as if they were my own."

The golden panels of Klorel's elaborate sarcophagus slowly eased apart, revealing the occupant within. Aster felt the unease she had felt earlier leave her as soon as she saw Klorel again, "Bow down now, Show your reverence to my son. The mighty warrior, Klorel," Apophis announced.

Klorel rose to his feet and faced his father proudly, "Tel kol, Jaffa," everyone again bowed, this time to Klorel, "Kel, Apophis. Re nek… Klorel."

"Re nek, Klorel," Apophis smiled paternally, before his image faded from the orb. The serpent guards and servants all bowed before the blank sphere.

Klorel, flanked by serpent guards and followed by Aster and the rest of the entourage, departed the gate room. In a few moments it was completely empty, save the four members of SG1, who sat in a small huddle whispering quietly about what had just happened.

"Were gonna try and grab Skaara," O'Neill announced firmly.

"Sir, are you sure? It would be like trying to take Apophis!" Carter argued.

Teal'c put his opinion in for O'Neill, "They do not know we are on board. There'd be little to keep him under heavy guard."

Carter looked uneasy about the idea, "Okay, but with respect, sir, I think your making an emotional decision here."

"Maybe, but it's also the best strategic decision."

"Is it?"

"Jack has a point. If we can capture him, maybe we can get through to the old Skaara. Kendra said that she could fight Pasras Goa'uld when it was still inside of her, and Aster is there too, she'll help us. Knowing her, she's probably waiting for an opportunity to help get Skaara out of this place just like we are," Daniel advised them.

"Are you sure? I mean, she has one of those things on her forehead, what if they've put a Goa'uld inside of her as well?" Sam asked with worry.

"Skaara wouldn't have let that happen," Daniel said softly, knowing the friendship bond the two of them had.

"If she's got a snake in her head we'll deal with it," O'Neill told them decisively, "Let's go."

"Sir? What about a contingency plan?"

"C4."

oOoOoOo

"Did you miss me at all?" Klorel smiled, pulling Aster to his side as they made their way down the corridor along with the entourage of Jaffa.

"Worried sick," Aster murmured as they turned into a room, four of the serpent guards accompanying them, only half in jest.

Klorel grinned and squeezed her hand, "Do not worry, it will not be much longer. Here, sit down, you look tired…" Klorel led her to a corner of the room, showing her to the stool, ''I know this can't be easy for you,'' he whispered gently.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Aster replied earnestly, smiling a smile that sent warm fuzzies running up and down Klorel's spine. He touched her arm affectionately, then walked over to the front of the room and activated the control panel.

Aster looked around the room, seeing the four serpent guards, the sarcophagus and… two dark figures that just rolled in through the door.

Aster leapt out of her seat when the figures started firing at the guards. She dove at the fallen body of the closest serpent guard and retrieved the Zat'n'kitel attached to his belt.

She looked back to the fight scene and was instantly revealed. She saw the familiar faces of Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c firing at the guards, and Klorel advancing on their position. Her brain did flip-flops inside of her head, 'This is it! They've come to rescue Skaara! We can go home! It's all over!' she thought in a micro-second, all of her memories and feelings for Klorel muffled by the memory that this was what she had been waiting for all this time… Skaara could be free…

Without warning Aster stood up and aimed the zat gun at Klorel, "Oi!" she exclaimed, getting Klorel's attention. Holding the zat steady and giving Klorel the hardest, coldest look she had ever given anybody, she said clearly, "Move and I will shoot."

Klorel looked as if he had already been shot. Aster tried not to let her ice-queen façade slip at Klorel's pitiful reaction. His mouth moved to form words, but no sound came out. His eyes became teary with emotion, caught halfway between sorrow and anger. Teal'c grabbed him from behind and Klorel roared in outrage, "Chel nok, makor!"

Aster watched silently, keeping the zat trained on Klorel, as O'Neill and Teal'c sealed up the room and removed the ribbon-device from Klorel and sealed up the room. Klorel just glared daggers at her, pure and utter hatred etched into Skaara's innocent face.

"Hey Skaara, long time no see. You too, Smith," O'Neill broke the tense silence.

"Thank you, sir," Aster replied automatically, collecting the weapons from the fallen serpent guards, her mood suddenly swung angry, "What took you so long? I almost had to sleep with that thing!" Aster motioned at Klorel.

" 'Sleep with him'?" O'Neill repeated incredulously, "…What the heck has been going on here?"

Aster shrugged, "Couldn't get Skaara out of here all on me onesies, and being 'myself' almost got me killed. So I had to pretend to like him for the better part of a year to gain his trust while I found some way to horribly betray him and save Skaara from a fate worse than death."

"You lying, deceitful—" O'Neill interrupted Klorel's anguished yells before he could call Aster something that would raise the rating of this story considerably.

"I see he got pretty attached to you," the Colonel observed wryly.

"Colonel O'Neill, we do not have much time…" Teal'c warned.

"Alrightie then, talk to me Skaara, I know you're in there."

"My father will have you all beheaded—"

"Come on Skaara, think. Try to remember me, I'm Jack O'Neill, this is Teal'c!"

"Ah, Teal'c! The traitor… I will take great pleasure in delivering his head to my father."

"He is not your father!"

"He is my father. He seeded the queen mother. He chose the host I will live out eternity. Apophis gave me life."

"Oh my GOD! Too much information! That is just SICK! How can you think of your own _parents_ that way Klorel? Oh… EW!" Aster exclaimed, almost clawing her eyes out.

"Smith!" O'Neill barked, "Not helping!" O'Neill and Klorel argued some more, Aster was losing her patience.

"Fine. Sir, move out of the way," Aster looked Klorel in the eye and fired the Zat'n'kitel at him.

"SMITH!" O'Neill roared. Any Jaffa that hadn't already heard them, they had by now.

"He's fine sir. Two shots kills; one prevents him from controlling the host for a short while."

"Sha're! Dan'ele!" Skaara cried out. Aster felt her stomach knot in guilt.

oOoOoOo

"Father, I wish to present to you a great gift," Klorel announced, "The traitor, Teal'c; And I present the human that recruited him… The Tau'ri slave you gifted to me is in league with them."

"Hey Pops," O'Neill greeted the serpent 'God'. Apophis was about to yell at him, when Aster took the opportunity to interrupt him.

"And, just so you know, I did NOT sleep with him you sick pervert!" Aster stated evenly while being restrained by a serpent guard.

"SILENCE!" Apophis snapped, "Klorel, where did they come from?"

"We do not know… We found them after departure," Klorel admitted.

Aster struggled against the serpent guard who held her captive with her arms behind her back as the conversation continued. Aster was only half listening, half twisting and pulling her arms, trying to free them, but to no avail. The conversations between the two aliens drew to an end and Aster faced her comrades with an expression of '_now_ what?' on her face. The Jaffa released her, but held his staff weapon at the ready in case she tried anything and ordered her along the corridors along with O'Neill and Teal'c.

Nothing could distract Klorel for the blind and utter rage he felt. It had only been moments before when he and Aster were walking down the very same corridor, together… smiling… in love… '_What_ love? It was all an act!' Klorel thought to himself furiously, 'She does not even feel remorse. She can feel nothing, she is just a puppet!'

'She told me her plan when she first shot us with that zat gun,' Skaara's mind confirmed, 'She was just trying to find a way to rescue me. And why do you suddenly worry for her good opinion? You've stated many times how the Tau'ri are so insignificant to you, why now care about how she feels?'

'I DO NOT CARE HOW SHE FEELS!' Klorel's thought exploded inside of his head, 'I will show her… she will see her planet destroyed. All of it!'

Klorel led the group into a room and turned to face O'Neill, "You wish to go home to your planet?"

"Of course," O'Neill replied.

Klorel barked an order at his guards, "Jaffa! Rel toc remoc!"

Aster's brow furrowed in confusion, walking over to O'Neill. She saw a Jaffa put his hand on an orb which changed colour and heard Teal'c start to warn O'Neill about something… then felt herself being propelled forward violently. She was saved from the fall by Klorel's pincer-like grip grabbing her arm and yanking her back up on her feet. Neither said anything.

"…Extreme deceleration," Teal'c finished.

"Yeah, thanks Teal'c."

Aster could feel a bruise developing on her arm where Klorel had grabbed her; it certainly wasn't a friendly lift up. She turned her head at the sound of Jack's exclamation and goggled at the view of Saturn through the window, speechless, "Wow… that's really… Saturn."

"You will get to see your home, one last time. Before you, and everyone on your planet, are destroyed. And your kind will disturb the Goa'uld no more," Klorel told them coldly.

''What's with the change of plan?'' Aster muttered in the Goa'uld language Daniel had taught her.

"Shol'vah," Klorel hissed back, the foreign word being the one usually associated with Teal'c by the Goa'uld caught O'Neill and Teal'c's attention.

Aster rolled her eyes, "Oh get over it…"

''I trusted you…'' the Goa'uld growled miserably.

Aster gave him the evillest smirk she could; "All's fair in love and war."

"Neither of which do you know," Klorel snapped.

That wiped the smirk off Aster's face. O'Neill, Teal'c and almost everyone else in the room looked back and forward between Aster and Klorel as if it were a tennis match.

"And you do?" Aster questioned dryly.

Klorel looked as if he was about to boil over, "I _LOVED_ YOU!" he yelled.

A very heavy silence fell upon the room. No one dared to breathe.

"I have priorities," Aster said coolly, "My work comes first."

"That's gotta hurt…" O'Neill murmured to Teal'c.

"Indeed."

"This is even better than watching soaps… Got any popcorn?"

"I do not."

"**SILENT**!" Klorel screamed, tears forming at the corners of his kohl-painted eyes.

A smoke bomb rolled into the room, catching everybody by surprise.

A firefight broke out, zat and staff blasts flying through the air in rapid succession. The guard behind Aster swung his weapon about to fire on SG1 and accidentally whacked Aster on the head, knocking the girl to the ground.

Klorel looked through the mess of the fight and saw Daniel creeping behind the sarcophagus. His rage burned, 'This is what she betrayed me for… her friend…' Klorel thought angrily, remembering how Aster had listed the archaeologist as her only real friend she had on Earth. Klorel knew he really couldn't take his anger out on his own host, which was the main reason for Aster's betrayal, but Daniel was the next best thing.

Aster groaned and rolled onto her front, getting onto her hands and knees with one of the worst headaches she had ever felt, next to the one she woke up next to Klorel with… 'No. No! Don't think about that now.' Memories flogged her brain, she felt so confused…

"Skaara!" O'Neill cried, "Skaara, don't!"

Aster looked up foggily and saw Klorel, torturing Daniel with the ribbon device. Daniel was dying… Aster choked back a sob, "Danny!" she got to her feet, stumbling a bit, "Klorel you bastard, let him go!"

Klorel gritted his teeth and only fed more power into the device on his hand.

"Skaara!" O'Neill shouted.

Then shot the Abydanian boy, twice.

Aster dropped to her knees where she was, shaking in fear and whimpering denials. The world sped her by; she just sat there staring at her best friend, lying dead on the floor. All that she had been through, all that she had done, all that she had felt…

Daniel offered her a hand up but she ignored it. When he tried to help her to her feet she slapped his hand away, "Go." She said coldly, not looking at him, still sitting on the ground.

"Aster…" Daniel began consolingly.

"Smith, pull yourself together," O'Neill ordered, feeling emotional himself.

"Shoot me," Aster hissed in response, "I'm not going with you."

"Aster, we haven't got time for this, we need to get out of here," Daniel told her gently, "The ship's rigged with C4, if you stay you'll die."

"I don't care, just stay away from me!" She stood up and walked over to Skaara's side, kneeling beside the dead body. She touched his shoulder in silence, to say goodbye. 'You did nothing to deserve this fate, Skaara…'

While her team mates were by the window watching the approaching view of the Earth, Aster smiled sadly at Skaara's lifeless body, "It would have been a lot easier if you had just kept your old host, Klorel, you know…" she whispered tearfully. She sat there, watching over Skaara as if he were asleep.

And then the small metallic ball rolled in and blinded everyone, knocking them all into painful unconsciousness.

oOoOoOo

**Linkin Park**

"Breaking the Habit"

Memories consume  
Like opening the wound  
I'm picking me apart again

You all assume  
I'm safe here in my room  
Unless I try to start again

Bridge:  
I don't want to be the one  
The battles always choose  
'Cause inside I realise  
That I'm the one confused

Chorus:  
I don't know what's worth fighting for  
Or why I have to scream  
I don't know why I instigate  
And say what I don't mean  
I don't know how I got this way  
I know it's not all right  
So I'm breaking the habit  
I'm breaking the habit  
Tonight

Clutching my cure  
I tightly lock the door  
I try to catch my breath again  
I hurt much more  
Than anytime before  
I had no options left again

Bridge:  
I don't want to be the one  
The battles always choose  
'Cause inside I realise  
That I'm the one confused

Chorus:  
I don't know what's worth fighting for  
Or why I have to scream  
I don't know why I instigate  
And say what I don't mean  
I don't know how I got this way  
I'll never be all right  
So, I'm breaking the habit  
I'm breaking the habit  
Tonight

Bridge:  
I'll paint it on the walls  
'Cause I'm the one at fault  
I'll never fight again  
And this is how it ends

Chorus:  
I don't know what's worth fighting for  
Or why I have to scream  
But now I have some clarity  
To show you what I mean  
I don't know how I got this way  
I'll never be all right  
So, I'm breaking the habit  
I'm breaking the habit  
I'm breaking the habit  
Tonight

oOoOoOo

Note: The song is supposed to be relative to Aster breaking the habit of being Klorel's servant, if it's not that obvious, lol. Back to writing chapters by the transcripts! And I would like to thank Gateworld for the transcript of "Within the Serpent's Grasp" and moon-catchin dot net for "The Serpent's Lair".

I would like to thank Isha for her review… This is not interactive! (Yes, I live in constant fear every day that FFN will pull the plug on one of my fanfics for no good reason. They've done it thrice before)

**Isha**: That is simply one of the best reviews I have ever had the privilege of reading! And it's certainly the longest I've had without the reviewer developing a split personality! Thank you so much! And thanks heaps for helping me out with the error of calling a Tel'tac a Pel'tac. It's just so hard to get them around the right way!:D It's a lot of fun writing the interactions between Aster and Klorel, I'm glad you enjoy reading them!

And guess what everybody! I'm getting the Stargate best of: season 1 DVD for Christmas! D I'll be watching this episode! YAY! (Because I've never actually seen it before) But I'm not sure if Dad got it...

Kohl is a great word, look it up in the FFN dictionary! :D

Love using the UNDERLINE tool, lol.


	6. Daniel's escape

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

Aster groaned, sitting up slowly and rubbing her eyes. Why was it dark? She brought her hands right up to her face and still couldn't see them. It wasn't dark… she was blind. Aster gulped, stretching out a hand to try and feel where she was. He hand met with the leg of a serpent guard, a live one, and she yelped.

"What the…? What's going on? Where am I? Where's…" Aster didn't know which name to use on the Goa'uld and human combo of Skaara and Klorel.

"Aster?" Bra'tac's familiar voice pierced the silence.

"Bra'tac! What's going on?"

"You and your friends were hit by a shock grenade…"

"O'Neill shot Klorel," Aster babbled, "Klorel was killing Danny, and then O'Neill killed them. Skaara and Klorel… what happened to them?"

"Lord Klorel has been placed in the sarcophagus."

"Oh…" Aster was getting her sight back, looking around the room and taking everything in, "Where's everyone else?"

"Your friends are in a holding cell… Excuse me, young Aster, I must give Lord Apophis news of his son's fate."

Aster nodded, "Where do I go?"

Bra'tac looked back at her, troubled, "I… do not know."

"I understand. I'll just stay here for now," Aster murmured sadly. She watched the sarcophagus as she waited for it to bring Skaara and Klorel back from the world of the dead.

oOoOoOo

"Kel mak tak, Tau'ri! Let us burn their world to ashes!" Klorel fumed, sitting up in the sarcophagus. He climbed gracefully out of the golden box and immediately saw Aster, "What is _she_ doing here?" he demanded of the serpent guards around them.

Aster looked up at him. She looked tired, lost and hopeless, "They didn't know where else to put me."

Klorel scoffed, "Not with your loving Tau'ri companions?"

"No," Aster shook her head.

Klorel turned his attention back to his guards, "Why did you not take her with the other Tau'ri?" he barked, walking past Aster and over to them.

"Don't yell at them, they probably don't even know," Aster told him, annoyance seeping into her voice.

"Be silent!" Klorel snapped back at her.

"We heard them arguing," one of the serpent guards finally admitted, "We did not think she was in allegiance with them."

"Arguing?" Klorel turned back to Aster, suddenly intrigued. He smirked, "So you have betrayed both sides and lost all allies, what a fitting punishment…" the Goa'uld purred. Aster only continued to stare downwards sadly, Klorel's smirk broadened and he turned away.

"You're right, it is fitting…" Aster murmured quietly, the hollowness of her voice spooking Klorel, who was used to hearing it so alive and full of passion.

"My Lord, the Tau'ri weapons approach," one of the serpent guards announced.

Klorel shook himself out of his revere and tried to activate the control panel. He did what he had always done, second nature to him, controlling the host. He went to outstretch their arm to activate the shields, but something stopped him.

"…Their weapons approach, my Lord, you much activate the shield," the guard looked worried.

Aster frowned in concern. She knew what Skaara was doing, to save her planet by ultimately getting them destroyed, but she was still afraid. She watched Klorel carefully.

He could sense his host straining his mental ability for control, and he was powerless to stop him. Klorel ground his teeth in concentration, attempting to reassert control over the arm.

'Do you want to kill us _ALL_?' Klorel demanded.

'If it stops you from destroying millions of lives on this planet, of course,' Skaara replied firmly, struggling to stop his hand from being controlled.

'Including your _dear_ Aster and your friend, O'Neill?' Klorel hissed to his host. When he felt Skaara's grip falter, he seized control of the limb and activated the shields a moment before the weapons hit, eyes glowing in rage.

Aster slowly let go of the breath she was unconsciously holding, still eyeing Klorel wearily. The Goa'uld stumbled backwards from the control panel, looking dazed.

"Klorel…?"

"Do not talk to me," Klorel snarled, getting his act together and storming past her and out the doors.

Aster looked at the floor instead, not making a sound. She wanted to at least thank him for saving their lives, or say something to make him feel better, '_Old habits die hard,_ _eh_?'

Klorel strode down the corridor towards the transport rings, his mind in turmoil.

'Where are we going?' Skaara's thoughts intruded on his mind.

'I cannot _stand_ this any more. I cannot stand _you_,' Klorel reflected angrily, 'I am getting a new host, I do not care if you wish to mock me or tell me how weak I am. I do not care because soon, I will never have to care about you again. I will get a new, better host and everything will be fine. Just _fine_.'

'You've gone mad.'

'I am a Goa'uld. I was born mad.'

'What will happen to Aster?' Skaara couldn't help his thoughts from coming through.

'…I do not know…' Klorel replied sadly, 'She will probably continue to try saving you, host.'

Klorel ringed himself onto his father's ha'tak, his head bowed, "Father… the host you chose for me is too strong…" he could feel himself begin to falter, he couldn't change hosts in the middle of the attack, "I fear I may need more time in the sarcophagus to gain strength."

"You are strong enough!" Apophis replied impatiently, "You are my son!"

Klorel inwardly sighed, surprised to not hear his host taunting him from within, "Yes, father."

"Do not disappoint me."

oOoOoOo

Klorel reluctantly entered the Pel'tac, trying to fix his gaze on the control panel and not Aster. Even more surprising than his host being so unusually quiet was that Aster hadn't even looked at him when he had entered. He was over at the controls now, and she still hadn't said anything. It was so uncharacteristically disturbing; usually he couldn't shut her up.

Klorel watched the Tau'ri planet approach, running his hand over the controls, making sure everything was alright. He couldn't stop himself from glancing over at Aster every second minute and he didn't know why.

'She looks so sad…' Skaara's mind ached, he hated to see any of his friends in pain or despair.

'It is her own fault.'

'You know it is not!'

Aster watched the Earth, dazzled. She had never expected to be sitting on a spaceship looking at the Earth from outer space… then again while in company of someone like Klorel was even more far-fetched. The clouds moved over the face of the Earth and she could see, roughly, where her home was. It brought a smile to her face to think that, if she were any younger, she'd be jumping up and down yelling, '_I can see my house from here_!'

After which Klorel would probably blow her house, her bills and her dead goldfish, all to ashes.

Klorel glanced at Aster just in time to catch her distant smile. He glowered, "And what do you find so amusing? Do you really enjoy the thought of your home planet being destroyed?"

Aster made a face, "What? No, I can just see my house from here…"

"Where?" Klorel looked back to the view of the planet.

"If I told you, you would destroy it," Aster replied quietly.

Klorel opened his mouth, about to deny the allegations, but remembered how angry he was supposed to be with her and shut it, turning and fuming at the window.

Aster rolled her eyes in a '_it_ _figures_' look and turned her attention to the door. She smiled good-naturedly at Bra'tac, who smiled back in turn.

Klorel, dead bent on showing off to Aster, called Bra'tac over to the window, "Come, witness the power of your God."

Aster, again, rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe he was still calling himself a 'God' like that, '_What an ego…_' the teen thought in amusement.

"I cannot."

Aster gave a start, '_Oh, don't do this… not now_!'

Klorel seemed equally surprised, "Why do you defy me?"

'_This is turning out to be a very bad day_,' Klorel, Skaara and Aster all thought simultaneously.

"Because you are not a god. You are a parasite within a child and I despise you," Bra'tac told the Goa'uld venomously.

Aster repressed a giggle at Klorel's expression. The last thing she needed was Klorel turning his anger loose on her again.

"Jaffa, kree tai! I am your _GOD_!" Klorel was loosing it by now. To have his closest friend and now his first prime turn on him in one day… He raised his hand device and activated it over the Jaffa's head, mad with fury, "And you will feel my wrath!"

Aster jumped up, "Hey!" she exclaimed in shock, and was about to add, '_You know what happened to you the last time you tried this_!' when O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c stormed the room and all hell broke loose… again.

Aster, all most getting used to the constant ambush and firing of weapons, grabbed a zat gun and looked about the room. She saw Teal'c grab Klorel with a feeling of déjà vu, from either Teal'c's previous encounter with Klorel or right back to when Teal'c grabbed Skaara on Abydos, Aster couldn't tell.

"Jaffa, tal shak!" Klorel barked, struggling against Teal'c's grip, "Asuta!"

Aster fumbled for words, gazing apologetically at Klorel's pleading look, and then to Teal'c's stern glare. She knew she had little to no chance of overpowering Teal'c, but what was more important was whether or not to save Klorel. He'd even used Skaara's nickname for her…

O'Neill entered the room, causing everyone to shift their attention to him. Aster looked hopelessly lost.

"He's… staying behind."

"Danny?" Aster's quiet voice inquired. Taking her answer from the expression on O'Neill's face, Aster ran out of the room.

"Aster!" O'Neill shouted, catching her off-guard by using her first name, "This ship's about to blow and you're not staying here-" But Aster was already gone. O'Neill sighed gruffly and decided to leave her, with the essence of time at hand.

Klorel looked towards the doorway anxiously, his and his host's mind buzzing with conversation.

'But Asuta will be destroyed when this ship is blown up!' Skaara's thoughts cried.

'And what can we do about it? _Nothing_!' Klorel's mind read his host's, 'And do not jump to such fruitless conclusions, I too worry about Aster's wellbeing. I would rather torture her myself for her betrayal than have her die in an explosion.'

'As long as she is alive. I know that you would forgive her, in time.' Skaara watched as thoughts and images flashed through Klorel's consciousness, but the alien did not give him a direct response. All Skaara could do is watch in despair as the transport rings fell down around them and the group was ringed onto the other ship.

oOoOoOo

"Danny?"

Daniel turned his head towards the loud exclamation and saw Aster running towards him. The girl crashed down beside him on the floor, "Oh God, are you alright? …What are you doing?" Aster inquired, seeing the odd position Daniel was stretched out in.

"Crawling…" Daniel grunted in pain, "Sarcophagus…"

"Good idea… Here," Aster half-dragged Daniel to his feet and let him lean on her, the both of them struggling towards the sarcophagus.

oOoOoOo

With Daniel in the sarcophagus, Aster had nothing to do but wait. She had checked the timer on the C4 and calculated that they had just enough time to get Daniel healed and run to the Stargate. Aster sighed and sat down beside the sarcophagus, exhausted. More exhausted from the stress than anything. She leaned her head backwards against the side of the sarcophagus, 'At least Skaara and Klorel won't be blown up by the blast, they still have shield generators to protect the ship they're on…

The sound of transport rings being activated jolted Aster to reality and she quickly hid herself behind the sarcophagus. She heard the familiar sound of rings warping people into the room and then heard the rings retract into the ceiling.

"Come," Apophis ordered hastily.

Aster recognised the alien's voice and poked her head around to see Klorel and Apophis walking out of the room, heading for the Stargate. As soon as they were out of the room Aster rose to follow. She paused, touched the closed sarcophagus lid and whispered, "I'll be right back."

Aster darted out of the sarcophagus room, hoping desperately that she wouldn't make any noise as she followed the two self-acclaimed 'Gods'. She poked her head around the corner of the door to the loading bay where the Chaapa'ai was stationed. She could see Apophis dialling up the 'gate, Klorel staring distantly around the room. The timer on the C4 was reading only three minutes left.

Klorel watched his father disappear through the rippling event-horizon of the activated Stargate, then turned around and walked quickly out of the room. Aster anticipated this and hid in a small alcove before he could see her, waiting for him to walk past.

'Well where do _you_ think she could be?' Klorel's mind raged.

'She would have gone to help Dan'el… the sarcophagus, perhaps?'

"Who are you looking for?" the calm voice behind him made Klorel jump. The Goa'uld prince turned to face the voice, regaining his composure.

"Ah, Aster. How nice of you to join us," Klorel smirked with bitter sarcasm.

Aster folded her arms, "Are you going back to Chulak with your father? Don't you think he'll be getting suspicious of your absence?"

"Apophis can think what he likes to think," Klorel muttered bitterly.

"Why are you coming back for me?" Aster asked weakly.

"Like I told my host; leaving you to die in the explosions of these ships would be too less of a punishment for your betrayal…"

"Klorel, I'm not going with you."

"Not even for your host?" Klorel chuckled.

"With your current attitude it would only hurt Skaara for me to be near you. But don't worry, I'll be finding ways to rid you from his body, even if I'm not with you," Aster smirked, then turned serious again, "Go, before the ship blows up."

Skaara's will and convincing forced Klorel to accept the command and leave without her, "But, you will escape also, before the ship is destroyed?"

Aster nodded, smiling sadly, "Yeah, I'm just waiting on Danny."

Klorel scowled at the elation that brought his host, with the prospect of all his friends living, as he had seen the gliders depart on the screens before ringing onto this ship. The Goa'uld looked Aster in the eye, "I never saw you here… even if I looked."

Aster, despite herself, hugged the alien in gratitude and farewell, "It'll be weird not having to wait hand and foot on a spoilt brat…"

"It shall be weird having piece and quiet again," Klorel half-joked in response.

Aster pulled away from the embrace, "Tell Skaara I'll miss him."

"You know he can always hear you," Klorel murmured back.

"I know…"

With nothing more to say, Klorel nodded to himself and left for the Chaapa'ai and Aster left to retrieve Daniel from the Sarcophagus so they could escape before the C4 blew.

oOoOoOo

**David Bedingfield  
**- If you're not the one

If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?  
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?  
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call  
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all

I never know what the future brings  
But I know you are here with me now  
We'll make it through  
And I hope you are the one I share my life with

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand  
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?  
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

If I don't need you then why am I crying on my bed?  
If I don't need you then why does your name resound in my head?  
If you're not for me then why does this distance maim my life?  
If you're not for me then why do I dream of you as my wife?

I don't know why you're so far away  
But I know that this much is true  
We'll make it through  
And I hope you are the one I share my life with  
And I wish that you could be the one I die with  
And I pray in you're the one I build my home with  
I hope I love you all my life

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand  
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am  
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

'Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away  
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today  
'Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right  
And though I can't be with you tonight  
And know my heart is by your side

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand  
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am  
Is there any way that I could stay in your arms?

oOoOoOo

**THIS IS NOT THE END!** There is still a lot more of the story to go, so stay tuned for the next chapter! Hehe. And I know I suck at putting songs to chapters, the only good one was chapter 2's song...

Thank you my wonderful audience for your patience and loyalty! I know you're loyal because you're still here reading this!

**Muse:** :D Thank you for still reading this! It's incredibly honouring to have an author as great as yourself take such notice of my stories, bows Yes, the last chapter was one of the saddest, if not the most, in this story… sniffle

**Kat:** Yay! Thankee Kat for that review, it was great! Klorel berating Skaara was almost part of the outtakes, which is now 1362 words long, lol. But I needed that for plot development and to break up the story a bit to make it more palatable. And I know there's something wrong with the flow of my sentences because this is the second time they've been mentioned. They're too long and comma-filled, aren't they?

**Blanc:** :) And Klorel is such a great character to write about, check out Apocalyptic Muse's stories, they're really awesome at giving Klorel that third dimension! Thank you for the review, also, it's wonderful to hear from new people all the time!


	7. Hammond's insult

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

"Oh no! Carrie? Pete?" Aster pressed her face up against the dirty green glass of her fish tank, "…Little Bob?" the teen pouted, "I _knew_ I should have got the neighbours to look after you while I was away."

Aster left the tank and approached the small mountain of letters piled up behind her apartment door, "Okay, let's see here…"

She knelt on the floor and began to pick her way through the pile, tossing junk mail and catalogues on one side and bank notices in the other, "I'm away for a whole year and all I get is junk mail, bank statements and five… wait… _six_ letters."

The seven turned out to be four Christmas cards, one birthday, a nicely-disguised piece of junk mail and a letter from Daniel, "Wow, Dad, you finally remembered my birthday," Aster murmured, reading over the hastily scribbled card, "Kudos to your new secretary."

"Dear Aster," the girl read out, "Happy Birthday honey, hope you're doing well, please call me.

Your Father, General West. Hmm, better call Dad then, right?" Aster turned to the tank, as she normally talked to her fish when things weren't going well, and sighed deeply.

oOoOoOo

"_Hello, General West's office_," the secretary spoke at the other end of the phone.

"Hey Rachel, how's things? Is Dad around? I just got his birthday card and it said to call him."

"_Aw, hi Aster! Glad to hear you calling, your Dad was worried after you didn't reply to the letter. Did it get to the right address_?"

"It got to the right address, I've just been away for a while."

"_Really_? _On holiday_?"

"Oh no, work related. The trip took longer than suspected."

"_Alright, dear, I'll just put you through, hang on_."

Aster leaned against the kitchen wall, holding the phone to her ear and waiting for her father to answer, 'I should get a cat… or some kind of pet that can take care of itself if I'm away… the ones Ra had were nice…'

"_Hello_?" General West's gruff voice spoke through the phone.

"Hey, Dad, it's me," Aster smiled, snapping out of her daydream.

"_Aster? Hi honey, did you get the card okay_?"

"Yeah, just opened it then."

"_Then? It didn't go to the wrong address, did it_?"

"No, Dad, I've just been away for a while. More than a year, I'd say… I'll have to check the calendar."

"_A_ **_year_**? _Where on Earth…_?"

"Work related. The same work that I did with O'Neill and Dr Jackson, actually," Aster smirked, waiting for her father's reaction.

"_What? It's still going? …You were there for a **year**_?"

"Not actually _there_ for a year, I was abroad for a year. It's hard to tell if they are calling it an MIA or a POW… We found out that there are more baddies out there and one of them kidnapped me," Aster explained without saying anything that she wouldn't want other ears to overhear.

"_You have **got** to be kidding me_."

"Nope, all true. But O'Neill, Danny and these other people, uh, rescued me. And now I'm fine. How have you been?"

"_Good, yourself_?"

"Pretty good. Not mentally scarred or anything, you know," Aster played with the phone cord, entwining her fingers in it, "Hmm… I should probably go now. I've got to sort all these bank letters to see if I still have an account and then there's this debriefing that I have to go to… _Gawd_ that's gonna be terrible!"

"_Alright then, I'll see you later. Take care_,"

"Bye," Aster replied quietly, and hung up the phone.

oOoOoOo

"Smith, nice to see you again. Please, take a seat," General Hammond indicated to one of the seats surrounding the table. Aster sat down without a word, knowing that all of SG1 were watching her. General Hammond cleared his throat, "We are very glad to have you back, Miss Smith, we were very worried about you when you were…"

"Knocked out, taken to another planet, _gifted_ to a Goa'uld as a servant and having to serve Klorel for over a year, sir?" Aster inquired lightly, "You shouldn't have worried, I was fine. The worst that happened while I was away, apart from having molten gold stuck on my forehead, was being thrown against a wall a few times by one of those ribbon devices. But I'm fine now."

"That's… great to hear," Hammond nodded, not having a clue to how to approach this debriefing.

"So," O'Neill started nonchalantly, "What did ya learn…?"

"That Apophis doesn't trust Klorel one bit, and he thinks I slept with Klorel, which I _didn't_," Aster frowned, "Not much else of use… cooking skills, manners, rituals… things that Danny would be interested with but nothing that you guys could use. They didn't trust me with any good stuff…" Aster wondered if she should tell them about Erebus or not. Erebus wasn't a threat to Earth, for now.

"Were you trained to operate any Goa'uld technology?" Teal'c inquired calmly.

"Oh yeah! Bra'tac taught me how to fly one of those… glider thingies. That was cool. Not sure if Klorel ever found out about that," Aster cackled to herself.

"What about those things around your neck and wrists? Did you get them off?" Sam asked after a long period of silence.

"Oh, _those_," Aster was wearing a turtleneck top, so it was quite hard to tell if she still had them. She hooked one finger over the turtleneck and pulled it down just enough for them to see the gold-naquadah necklace still around her neck, "They're still there. There are anklets as well, but they're made out of a naquadah and gold alloy, the only way to get them off was for Klorel to use his hand device on them…" Aster looked saddened, fiddling with the bracelets.

"It's alright, we'll find a way to get them off," Daniel smiled comfortingly.

"I very much doubt that," Aster replied moodily, "I've just missed out a whole year of my life. My savings account flopped because I wasn't there to keep it going, my goldfish died…"

"Carrie, Pete and Bob?" Daniel asked sadly.

Aster nodded, "Yeah… I'll get a cat next time."

"We shall sort out your finances later," Hammond told her calmly, "Along with compensation and a little word to the bank."

"Do I still work here?"

Everyone looked from Aster to Hammond. Hammond sighed, "We're not sure, yet. We could definitely use your expertise and knowledge of the Goa'uld on base, since Dr Jackson is part of SG1…"

"But you're not letting me through the gate, is that it?" Aster interrupted the cacophony of excuses that followed, raising her hand, "I'm gone."

Aster left the room, jogging down the hallway towards her locker.

"Oh great," Daniel sighed.

"So… what do we do?" O'Neill looked about the group.

"Nothing," Daniel swivelled about on his chair, "She'll be fine in a few days."

"What will she be doing at SGC?" Sam asked.

"Paperwork, translation, etc."

"Ooh, fun," Daniel huffed sarcastically.

"Well I'm sorry but there's nothing else we can do. She's too much of a liability to this command centre as it is…" Hammond explained defensively.

Aster walked past the door without stopping, a bag of her belongings slung over her shoulder, "Heard that."

oOoOoOo

_Ding-dong_

"What?" Aster yelled, leaning back in her computer chair with her feet resting on the edge of the desk. She was in a bad mood. She didn't really care about whoever had rung her doorbell. She didn't really care if the door was locked and they spent half an hour banging on her door to get her to open it. She was in a bad mood and she couldn't give a flying rat's ass. She was always in a bad mood.

She heard her door click open and someone enter her apartment, calling her name. Aster simply leaned back; eyes closed and fingers in a steeple, "What is it, Danny?"

Daniel walked into her mini-office, "Just checking to see if you're alright…"

"I'm not done with the video SG-5 sent be back yet, the lighting and contrast is murder, I can berley see _any_ of the symbols on the wall. The only reason I am still looking it over is because it's something about Ra," Aster sighed.

"No, no. I didn't come to talk about work… I was just worried that you've been a little… odd since you got back," Daniel stated, taking a seat.

Aster sat up, "Since I got back, eh? That was a long time ago. I have my job, and everything is good. Translation, research… the stuff you would have done if they had kept you from going through the Stargate."

"I'm sorry that they're not letting you through the Stargate. There are just restrictions on who can be part of the teams and—" Aster cut him off.

"Danny, I don't want to be on a _team_, I just want to be out there. I…" her voice hitched, "…I miss Skaara. Ye Gods, I even miss Klorel for all his whining and moaning. And Earth just _really_ sucks, too…" she looked towards Daniel, "You understand, right?"

"Oh Aster…" Daniel sighed deeply, looking at the ground. He wondered what he could say to her, or if there really was anything to say. No, too late, Aster exploded.

"Don't '_Oh_ _Aster_' me, Daniel!" Aster snarled, "I've had enough crap from everyone else at the SGC. There is a suitcase on my bed in the other room that I've been packing since I got home. All I want to do is get that suitcase and hurl myself through the Stargate to Chulak…" the girl sighed, "I'll deliver the translated texts tomorrow, okay?"

Aster ignored Daniel's departure, her mind in turmoil, 'What's the point? Klorel will never forgive me…'

oOoOoOo

Sorry guys! I have to cut it short there because of holidays. Promises that the next chapter will be super long! :)

Blanc: :) thanks for the on-going support! It really means a lot to me. Muse's stories just rule so much!

Isha: Yeah, SO much fun with the DVD. After watching Skaara/Klorel again and again and again we watched it in German! LOL! hugs DVD my prescious...

Kat:Nah, I like the Stargate universe the way it is, except for the fact that there is no Ra :'( Klorel and Aster will meet again, don't worry :D still haven't figured out how it's going to end yet. Hmm... to screw the universe, or not to screw the universe... that is the question.

Apocalyptic Muse: :D thankee! Can't wait to get back from the holidays and keep writing. Have many devious ideas for the next chapter. Hehehe... plotting


	8. Sokar's rage

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

oOoOoOo

"Morning," the guard greeted vaguely, checking Aster's ID card as she walked past him, headed for the elevator. The girl looked to be the last thing expected to walk into the military instalment, from the bright yellow designer t-shirt she wore to her torn, rugged jeans and sandals. She had her flaming red hair tied up in a loose ponytail, the occasional stray lock tucked neatly behind an ear as she went.

Aster hoisted the large stone tablet a little higher on her hip to free a hand to operate the elevator door. The translated material Daniel had set for her to work on had been crammed into the backpack slung haphazardly on one shoulder.

She hoped she wasn't all that late, she knew how close she was coming to being fired from her lack of dedication to her job. Her ears picked up the sound of the Stargate activating in the distance, '_Guess I'm not too late after all, Danny should be coming through on this one_,' Aster mused, checking her watch for confirmation.

Aster deposited the stone tablet and the translated scripts on Daniel's desk before jogging off to see if she could find the galaxy-renowned linguist. Medical staff rushed past her in a flurry to get to the gate room and Aster felt a lump rise in her throat.

Not a good sign.

'_I hope Danny's okay_…' Aster felt guilty about yelling at him yesterday. He had come to help her out with her problems and she had practically bitten his head off.

'_Bitten his head off_?' a rogue image of a nasty-looking alien devouring Daniel's head flashed unbidden in her mind, "Oh Gawd…" Aster groaned, rubbing her weary eyes. '_No more late nights and watching scary alien movies_!' a voice inside her head chided.

Aster's ears perked up when she heard Dr Fraiser's voice drifting up from around the corner, "…Let him start on two IV's and I wanna run ringer's lactate wide open…"

"What the…?" Aster moved to the side of the corridor to make room upon hearing the rattling of wheels of a gurney being pushed along the corridor. Janet and the medical team came bustling into view, Aster hoped dearly that it wasn't Daniel on the approaching stretcher.

Apophis' beaten and bloody body came rolling into view.

Aster grinned, not able to resist, "Hey! Welcome to Earth, enjoy your stay!" she smirked in her best bimbo-voice, waving to Apophis as he was sped past her to the medical wing.

''Deceitful whore of my son!'' Apophis snarled in the Goa'uld language from the stretcher he was secured to.

Aster scowled, '_Why that little_…' she drew in a deep breath and yelled out the crudest, harshest insult she knew in the Goa'uld language, which caused an immediate reaction of yelling and cursing and from Apophis. Aster smirked.

The girl turned to continue her path to the gate room but jumped when she saw the SG1 team already standing behind her. Teal'c's face was set in a shocked and repulsed look, Daniel's face pale as he stared at her in shock and Sam and O'Neill were just looking between the three hoping for an explanation.

"Aster!" Daniel huffed angrily.

"…What was that?" O'Neill asked.

"You… don't want to know," Daniel answered when Teal'c only gave O'Neill a raised eyebrow.

All eyes turned on Aster, the girl blushed, "Hey, he called me a—"

"Please don't tell me he started it," O'Neill interrupted. Aster groaned in frustration.

"Why is he here, anyway?" Aster asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"There was another Goa'uld kicking his ass on P3X…something, something, and he demanded sanctuary."

"So he's here so you can torture the information out of him?" Aster scoffed idly, "And you call yourselves the good-guys…"

"Aster—" Daniel began heatedly.

"I know, I know, greater good for mankind, yadda-yadda," Aster threw her hands in the air in mock surrender, "I'll be in the cafeteria, call me when visiting hours start."

The team watched Aster flounce off in the direction of the cafeteria. Daniel exhaled slowly, massaging his temples.

"Three guesses on what she's going to talk with Pops about?" O'Neill offered.

"…Klorel?"

"Bingo."

oOoOoOo

"Wow, that looks comfortable," Aster sniggered, walking into the medical room that Apophis was held prisoner a short while after O'Neill had.

"You enjoy my suffering," Apophis spat.

"Hmm… just a bit. I see this as more or less payback for what you did to me on Chulak," the teen replied lightly. She waltzed over to the monitors, pretending to check the readings.

Apophis snorted indignantly, "My son deserved better…"

"Does not, the spoilt brat…" Aster muttered, '_I hope they let me stay to watch him flat-line_.'

"And why did you deceive him? Information? Power? Or were you just seducing him for the mere pleasure of it?" the Goa'uld hissed, looking repulsed.

Aster glowered, "At no point did I try to seduce that idiot. I _lied_ to him to try to save his host."

"Oh yes, I remember… you tried to save him," Apophis sneered.

"He was my friend, my _best_ friend…" Aster stared off into space, "He told me he was betrothed, just before you guys came and took him away… I knew her; she was one of the village elder's daughters… I can't remember her name, though…" Aster frowned thoughtfully.

Apophis didn't get the change to fire a retort. Aster trotted silently out of the room, still deep in thought, '_Maybe Danny ran into her when he went back to Abydos… Dammit, I should have told him to tell her… Tell her what? Skaara didn't even get to finish his message…_'

Aster subconsciously walked herself to her little office in the SGC. It wasn't that big, but she had to use it to store things that Hammond wouldn't allow to leave the base. She kept the outfit she had been wearing when she came back from betraying Klorel here, along with some ancient artefacts she kept in the office for safekeeping.

With nothing else to do, she looked around her office, searching her desk drawers for anything remotely interesting. Books, half-translated papers she was working on… She found the key for her filing cabinet and opened it, rummaging through the contents. She found a little puzzle toy that Ra had given her on Abydos and sat down at her desk to have another crack at it.

oOoOoOo

Daniel strode down the corridor behind Carter, still angry from his brief interview with Apophis. The archaeologist stopped when he heard a mumbled curse followed by, "You, dear puzzle, make the Rubik's cube look like a cheap joke." Floating up from an open office door near by.

"Aster? You're still here?" Daniel asked, poking his head into her tiny office.

"I can't just go home with Apophis being stuck in infirmary you know," Aster replied, not looking up from her task.

"…What's that?" Daniel's eyes sparkled in wonder at the toy just screaming archaeological splendour.

"Puzzle. Ra gave it to me to shut me up when we were on Abydos… don't give me that look. It's completely harmless, naquadah free… and damn unsolvable."

"Hmm, maybe you should try turning it the other way…"

"You wanna have a go?"

"Oh, sure!" Daniel accepted the gift happily, looking like a little kid given the keys to a candy store and continued after Sam, fidgeting with the puzzle as he walked.

"Wait! Danny?" Aster ran after him, "You didn't happen to run into, um…" Aster racked her brain for the girl's name, "…That girl Skaara knew… 'Wia' or something, when you went back to Abydos?"

"I think so, yes," Daniel nodded distantly, "Why?"

Aster sighed, looking crestfallen, "I was supposed to pass on a message to her, from Skaara…"

"Oh. What message?"

"He couldn't tell me in time, Klorel took control of him again."

"Ah…"

"…I should go. I need to see if there's anything else I can beat out of Apophis," Aster grimaced.

"Okay, see you later," Daniel replied, looking a bit spaced out. Aster cringed, hoping she hadn't brought any painful memories up for him. '_Sorry Danny_…'

Aster jogged back to the infirmary. Apophis was still strapped down to the bed with all sorts of wires running out of him. She froze, "What the…? How come you're aging so fast?"

Apophis looked up, scowling, "Why would a Tau'ri like your self _care_?"

Aster shrugged, "There's nothing much else to do around here. I heard Klorel's got a new baby brother, what's up with that?" the girl asked, keeping her face set.

"The boy was intended to be my future host…" Apophis muttered sourly, he lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, "Ammonet…" he murmured to himself in despair.

Aster felt a twinge of sympathy; "You miss her, huh?"

"I do not expect a simple creature like yourself to understand. You know nothing. You have corrupted my son!" Apophis barked.

"Corrupted?" Aster scowled, "How so?"

Apophis growled sitting up again, "You have wrecked him. He speaks of nothing but his anger towards you for what you have done to him. He no longer respects me as his father; he spends months at a time away from Chulak for no reason at all. He will not listen to _anyone_…" Apophis continued with frustration. He had no idea what the Tau'ri girl before him had done to break his son like she had. She didn't look that capable of any great damage.

"You know nothing," Apophis repeated. The Goa'uld went back to staring at the ceiling.

Aster could feel her face burning, she looked at the ground, "I didn't mean to wreck him… I just wanted to save Skaara, _I wasn't thinking_…" she swallowed the lump forming in her throat, "I'm sorry."

Apophis leaned up to see the teenage redhead leaning against the doorframe of the room. He looked both confused and surprised, not able to pull together a response. The pain was getting worse…

"And just so you know; I _do_ understand how you miss Ammonet," Aster told the Goa'uld firmly. Her eyes stung with emotion.

"You miss your friend, the host." Apophis stated neutrally.

"…I miss Klorel," Aster sniffed. She left the room without looking at Apophis, she didn't need a Goa'uld seeing her blubber away at this point. She sniffed slightly.

"Aster? Are you okay?" Janet asked, seeing Aster walking out of the room Apophis was being held prisoner almost in tears, "What did he say to you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Aster replied quietly, shaking the doctor off and continuing down the corridor.

Meanwhile, Daniel was still fiddling with the puzzle Aster had let him borrow under the table while the others talked about Sokar with the Tok'ra. O'Neill noticed Daniel looking under the table as his hands worked busily away at something.

"Danny… whatchya doin'?"

"Huh? Oh, just playing with this little puzzle-thing, sorry," Daniel blushed, getting a hard look from Hammond as he held the puzzle-toy up.

"Wow, where did you get that?" Sam asked in awe, "That's not real gold, is it?"

"Probably. And I'm positive all of the jewels decorating it are real too. Aster let me borrow it."

"…Did she steal it?"

"No, it was a gift from—" Daniel was interrupted by a harsh intake of breath from Martouf.

"That toy once belonged to Ra, it bears his emblem on it," the Tok'ra murmured, his tone tinged with worry.

"Yeah, he gave it to Aster to… um, shut her up."

"…Did it work?" O'Neill asked with some interest.

"Who is 'Aster'?" Martouf frowned, slightly worried that one of the Tau'ri had been in such good terms with Ra.

"Short kid, red hair, …won't shut up," O'Neill began.

"She was with us on our first mission to Abydos. Aster was kidnapped by Apophis and was made to be a slave to Klorel, but we got her back when Apophis and Klorel tried to attack Earth a while ago. She mainly does translation work for us now," Daniel explained, half of his attention still focused on the puzzle-toy. All he had done so far was to have gotten it into a more tangled mess.

"It's one of those brain puzzles, isn't it? May I?"

Daniel passed the toy to Sam, who observed it with fascination, "Wow…" was all she could say, marvelling at the craftsmanship and complexity of the toy

"Can I have a go when you're done?" O'Neill asked, sitting up straighter.

"In a minute, sir," Carter replied, trying her hand at solving it first.

oOoOoOo

"He's my patient… and a grumpy one at that," Janet huffed, "Aster ran out of here earlier almost in tears. I asked him what he said to her but he wouldn't talk to me."

"Apophis was not the reason that Miss Aster was upset over," Teal'c reported while Martouf tried to talk to Apophis, having seen most of the event from the observation room, "She was upset because she missed someone—"

"Skaara?" Sam, Janet and O'Neill all said at once. Teal'c paused, concerned at what he had to say next.

"…Klorel?" Daniel guessed meekly.

Teal'c let out a breath, "Indeed."

"Ew." O'Neill made a face.

oOoOoOo

Aster heard a knock on her office door, '_Must be Danny and the Ra-bik's cube_,' the teen giggled at the new nickname for the puzzle-toy, "Come in!"

The door opened and Daniel and Jack walked into the small office, Martouf following them. Aster looked at the Tok'ra in confusion, "Who're you?"

"My name is Martouf," he introduced himself. Aster smiled politely and introduced herself warmly in return.

"And he's a Tok'ra," O'Neill smiled, curious to see Aster's response.

Aster's face fell, "Oh. Great."

Martouf bristled at the unenthusiastic comment, "I have been told Ra gave you this," he said, holding up the puzzle-toy, still unsolved even with the help of half the SGC each having a try.

"Ah, thanks for that, I was beginning to think I'd never see it again," Aster grinned, taking the puzzle from him and wrapping it in a velvet cloth she had bought to keep it in, "Neat little thing, isn't it?"

"What else did he give you?" Martouf asked tersely.

"Nothing, really. I only met the guy for a couple of days. He was nice, to me at least. Pity you two had to go and blow him up like that," Aster sighed reminiscently.

"Don't worry, we've been through this argument and it's all settled," Daniel assured Martouf quickly.

"Aster, we'd like a little word with you about Klorel," O'Neill interrupted, not wanting to beat around the bush, "Teal'c said he heard you saying you missed him and then Janet saw you run out of Apophis' room crying."

"…First of all, I wasn't crying. Second of all, tell Teal'c _never_ to go **anywhere** near me again," Aster took in a deep breath and huffed it out, "And as for Klorel—" '_I do miss him…_' "My personal life is none of your business."

"But its Apophis'?" Daniel inquired.

"He is his **father**. And he was accusing me of not knowing how it felt to miss someone. My friend Skaara, I miss. But I also miss—" '_my boyfriend? my lover? my master? Gawd damn treacherous mind…_' "—Klorel."

Aster bit her lip; "I want to go back…"

"Out of the question," O'Neill told her point blank.

"I know."

"Yeah, the wormhole is currently busy," Daniel smiled.

"Danny," O'Neill quipped, "You know what Hammond, Kingsley and the President said about this matter. '**No**'."

Aster gave Martouf a stern look, "If you came here to discuss personal matters and my love-life, why did you bring _him_?"

"I was interested to see if you had any information from Ra we could use against the Goa'uld," Martouf replied dryly.

"Sorry, I'm Tok'tok'ra," Aster winked, "So you can just go and—"

"Aster…" Daniel warned quietly.

" '_Love_-_life_'? You actually _like_-_like_ a **Goa'uld**?" O'Neill made a face at her.

"Oh great, that's you _and_ Apophis against me," Aster scoffed, " 'Two species, both alike in dignity.' "

" 'In fair SGC were we lay our scene', " Daniel grinned. Martouf didn't get it. It had to be explained to him that it was an 'Earth thing'.

"Um, Aster? There's something else… because of the attack from Sokar and all… we're going to have to ask you to leave," Daniel told her uncomfortably.

"Oh… no problem, I'll just say goodbye to Pops on the way out. You guys had better get back, the 38 minutes you were talking about are almost up," Aster smiled vaguely, showing them all out of her tiny office. She watched them go down the corridor and instead headed for Apophis' room.

"She took that well," O'Neill pointed out, impressed with the teen's sudden bout of maturity.

"Hmm… what do you think about Aster wanting to go back through the gate?" Daniel murmured quietly so Martouf wouldn't overhear.

"Not worth putting our asses on the line, too inevitable. Let's just hope she doesn't quit before her boyfriend comes to pick her up," O'Neill drawled.

Daniel chuckled, "Hope so."

oOoOoOo

Aster visibly winced at the sight of Apophis' deteriorating health. It was as clear on his face as it was on the monitoring equipment's read-outs.

"I need a host," Apophis wheezed, not even knowing who it was that had entered, his gaze on the ceiling falling in and out of focus, "Please, I am dying…"

"Even if we did get you a new host, you wouldn't survive the transfer… only a sarcophagus would save you at this point," Aster told him softly.

"Sokar has a sarcophagus. Even if your people let me die, he will bring me to life again, and I will be tortured once more…"

"You'll make it out," Aster smirked in a reassuring way. Apophis smirked back weakly in gratitude.

"…He has forgiven you." Aster looked up at Apophis in surprise. The Goa'uld kept staring at the ceiling, "My son, Klorel. Sometimes he is angry with you, but he has forgiven you. I heard him once, alone in his room, crying for you to come back, pleading and saying he had forgiven you. Your absence saddens him…"

Aster could feel her eyes beginning to tear-up again…

"I regret what I said earlier," Apophis told her, finally looking at the girl.

"Yeah, me too," Aster smiled, blinking the moisture out of her eyes, "I've got to go now, they're kicking me out for the night… because of Sokar attacking and everything…" she walked over and touched his shoulder briefly, "Good luck."

"Thank you," Apophis replied weakly, but with gratitude.

"Bye," Aster smiled, waving once as she left the room, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

No one asked her as she left the SGC for home why she was crying.

oOoOoOo

Hi all! Sorry for the delay, I hope I can make it up to you with a little something I constructed over my little holiday! :) http: www. anime4/ demonllama/ images/ aster.jpg

Except I haven't drawn the emblem on her forehead.

And I've given up on putting songs in chapters. I've got bad taste and I always forget the songs I hear that could be good for a chapter, unfortunately. Still, for the last chapter I would have liked Dido's 'Sand in my shoes' but I didn't have enough time to find the lyrics :) my bad.

Lol, this was all written in one day, one full day of writing. There's not much Klorel in this one, but the next will have plenty :D promise!

* * *

_Non-interactiveness_:

**Blanc**: :) Yes, I plan to have the next two chapters set to Pretence, but wether or not I change the ending is a secret, hehe. I'm flattered that you would check every day, it's so nice to hear that grin And may the little fishes rest in peace.

**Kat**: If I do screw with the universe, it will only be in a very small way smirks but I'm not telling how. is evil

**Isha**: You're German? COOL! celebrates I know someone who sprecken die Deutsche! (forgive my terrible spelling, lol, I only learn Japanese) Alle für Deutschland! :D Thank you for all the kind words, they mean so much to me! And thanks again, the holidays were good!

**Apocalyptic Muse**: ;D don't worry, I have the plot all unfolding and churning around in my head, tee-hee. I'll try and write as quick as I can before school starts again!

**Tasi**: grins Thank you for the support passed on by Muse, I'm so honoured by how much you like this story! waves

Wishing you all much happiness and sunshine! :)


	9. Travell's Triad

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Stargate SG1 or Stargate the movie, or anything else you lawyers can think of! But I do, however, own the heroine of this story, Aster! Yay!

"…Speech…"

'…Thought…'

'…Quote…'

''…Foreign language…''

* * *

oOoOoOo

"There has also been a request for another of the Tau'ri to be present at the Triad. A young one by the name of 'Aster', I believe," Narim stated hopefully. The details given about the girl were scarce to say the least.

O'Neill grinned at Daniel, "Told ya."

"Wow, Aster will be glad to hear this. She's been wanting to speak with… them for ages," Daniel corrected himself.

"She has been asked to assist in the Triad also," Narim explained, "It is vital that she attend."

"Understood," General Hammond nodded, "We will make sure that she does."

"This is going to be a looong mission," O'Neill grumbled to himself. A huge and somewhat goofy grin had spread across Daniel's face. Everyone else looked about in puzzlement.

oOoOoOo

Aster moaned into the chequered pillow her face was buried in, '_Why_ _can't I sleep in? Just once? I'm not working today…_' the girl rolled out of bed, crashing ungracefully on the floor and not getting back up. Muttering curses, she propped herself up on her elbows. Combing her messed-up hair with her fingers and blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she looked out the window. Drizzling rain and a heavy fog ad settled about the town, chilling the apartment blocks. Aster groaned.

The girl made her way into her little kitchen, wincing at the cold touch of the kitchen floor on her bare feet.

"Hello?" Aster murmured into the receiver, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

"Aster?" Daniel chuckled, "Sleeping in again, eh?"

"Not any more," the girl croaked, squinting at the kitchen clock, "Why're you ringing me?" she yawned. The cold seemed to creep into her pyjamas, taking all their warmth away.

"We just got a visitor, one of the Tollan, Narim. You've been invited to a Triad," Daniel beamed as he spoke to the phone.

"As in… off-world? Cool, …what's a Triad?" Aster asked, beginning to wake up a little more.

"It's like a trial…"

"Great, who's on Tri-ad?"

"It concerns Skaara," Daniel finally told her.

"Skaara?" Aster repeated in disbelief, "Really? Oh, well, when do you want me down there? On second thought, I'm coming right away." Aster hung up the phone.

"Make sure you get dressed first!" Daniel managed to yell before the connection cut.

oOoOoOo

"Hello!" Aster grinned breathlessly to Narim as she flung herself into the room; "I made it!" Her hair was still wet from the shower, having no time to dry it off on the way.

"…That was fast."

"The bandanna is a good idea," Sam smiled.

Aster reflexively pulled the green bandanna further down her forehead, concealing the golden insignia melted into her forehead, "Yeah, I can't really go out of the house without one any more," Aster blushed. And the looks the other Tok'ra had given her weren't that nice either.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that… why don't you get it removed?" Daniel suggested.

Aster blinked, "I…" '_Am at a loss for words_.' "No."

"Why not?" O'Neill replied, long expecting that answer.

Aster drew in an uneasy breath; "It's fine where it is, okay? Now, moving right along…"

Daniel looked uneasily at his young friend, planning to have a talk to her as they made their way to the Gateroom. When they departed, Daniel waited behind for Aster, "You alright?"

"Tired," Aster mumbled, "And running out of excuses."

"Hmm… looking forward to the Triad?" Daniel smiled, hoping to improve the mood.

"Yeah, I was watching 'the Practice' last night. Law program, pretty funny. Heh, James Spader is such a funny actor…"

"…Who?"

oOoOoOo

"Wow, this place is so neat!" Aster grinned to Daniel, taking all of the alien architecture in, "I love the water features… it's so refreshing from the way the Goa'uld decorate."

Aster was at the back of the trail of people walking down the corridor towards where Skaara was. Aster was caught between excitement and fear. It was quite obvious who the opposer to Skaara was by the colourful tapestries hanging on the walls with the Tau'ri symbol and Apophis' official insignia.

"Skaara?"

Aster heard Carter calling to her friend; she poked her head around to see him. Dressed in the same outfit he had been when he and Apophis had set out to destroy Earth… Aster wondered what he had to have been doing here, and wearing such official garb.

"You… you will pay for what you have done to my father!" Klorel seethed.

'_Oh yeah, that's him_,' Aster smirked to herself. She watched intently at the change between the occupants of Skaara's body, the device on his chest turning from red to blue. This sparked a question in the teen's mind, '_What triggered the change? A timer? Remote? Or was it just silencing Klorel and letting Skaara speak whenever he wished?_'

"I am very happy to see you," Skaara finally spoke. He managed to catch Aster's eye, "All of you."

Part of the fear Aster held was that Skaara also hated her, for the path she was choosing. He was her best friend; after all, it hurt to have to choose one or the other. She looked with a guilty sadness at the Abydanian, who was seemingly rebuffed by O'Neill.

"It is I, O'Neer. Are you not happy to see me?"

"Yeah, it's good to see you."

Aster moved past Teal'c and closer to Sam, still not comfortable with going right up to Skaara. He spoke of freeing himself of Klorel, '_So that's what the Triad is about… Why would Klorel be stupid enough to visit a planet that would strip him of his host? …I hope it wasn't my fault… Aw, Klorel_…'

Something in the back of Sam's mind bugged her when Skaara chose his two 'archons', and how Aster was keeping a safe distance from him. Narim had said it was vital that she attended… was part of the Triad to call up witnesses?

Aster was also wondering her place in this alien hearing. She gave Skaara a nervous smile when he caught her eye again on the way back to the room the Triad was to be held in. She had no words to say, and could think of none.

'_Now is not the time for important discussion anyway. Just hold it together for now_.'

Aster's eyes bugged out a bit when she saw who else was coming into the room, "Zipacna?" she choked, '_Oh, not good_.'

"As Skaara has chosen two archons, Klorel decided upon the same," Travell explained.

"…One of the serpent guards?" O'Neill puzzled.

"We would speak in private," Klorel announced. Aster gulped.

Travell nodded, "As you wish."

Klorel looked back at Aster, "Come," he briefly ordered, moving out with Zipacna and the guards to another room. Aster sighed deeply and followed.

"Wait just a minute!" O'Neill protested loudly, halting the progression entirely "What is going on?"

"…I think Aster was brought to be an archon for Klorel," Sam told him quietly.

"And what if she doesn't want to be one?" O'Neill asked through gritted teeth. Travell looked towards Aster for confirmation.

'_No, no, no, I can't fight against Skaara! I can't! No, I won't!_' Aster opened her mouth to say something, but saw Klorel looking at her out of the corner of her eye. Looking at her strictly, his features set. '_I can't…_' Aster closed her mouth and nodded to Travell, her eyes downcast.

"Jack…" Daniel murmured in worry.

O'Neill growled in the back of his throat, but remained silent, glaring at Aster. The teen could feel herself start to physically shake. Klorel took her arm and led her out of the chamber with Zipacna and the serpent guards following. He didn't look at her; he didn't talk to her. Aster felt as if she was going to be sick.

They were shown into a room in similar style to the 'courtroom', Apophis' emblem shown proudly on a tapestry hanging on one of the walls. Klorel shot the insignia a dark look as he walked past it, having left Aster in the doorway. The Goa'uld prince walked over to the water feature at the end of the room and folded his arms.

"Be seated," he ordered Aster, shooting her a neutral look.

Aster sat in one of the chairs; Zipacna and the guards remained standing. Zipacna cleared his throat, about to start some long conversation with Klorel. Aster glowered, in no mood to wait for the other Goa'uld to go first.

"Why?" Aster asked loudly, a slight bite in her words. Zipacna shot her an angry glance, but Klorel was not concerned. He knew she would not sit still and listen before saying her piece.

"You know why," Klorel told her calmly, not a shred of emotion on his face.

"What, so I can argue your opposing side? This isn't some suicide mission you've dreamed up, is it?"

"Tau'ri!" Zipacna barked at the girl's insolence.

"Bite me."

Klorel smirked at that; '_her attitude has not changed_.' "If you do not support our side, your friends will be destroyed."

Aster could tell when the Goa'uld was bluffing, and this wasn't it, "Well that's weak. How do you know I will not tell the Tollan that you plan to kill my friends during the Triad?"

"Have you told your friends about Erebus?" Klorel's smirk widened at the look on Aster's face. Klorel paced casually about the room, with the air of authority, "I know you will not tell them."

Zipacna's frown deepened, _why was his Lord trusting the Tau'ri girl?_ She was a _Tau'ri_, and she had also betrayed him earlier. The girl did not even look emotionally stable enough to be able to betray her comrades. "My Lord, we have the battle plan under way. Be assured that should you loose this Triad, the Tollans and the Tau'ri will pay dearly." Zipacna did not say any details, just in case the host was to give away the information.

"Good. Shal'kek," Klorel ordered Zipacna to leave, nodding to the guards to leave also. Zipacna felt the bile rise in his throat at the thought of being thrown out in favour of a _Tau'ri_. The minor Goa'uld bowed respectfully.

"Yes my Lord," Zipacna murmured. He straightened and stormed out of the meeting room.

Aster did not look up at the Goa'uld. Confused, afraid and worried, she did not look up at him. She heard him walk over to her, the knots in her stomach felt even tighter.

"Asuta, please look at me," Klorel asked softly, kneeling down beside her. He reached behind her head and undid the knot of the bandanna, removing it. Aster recoiled from him, anger and mistrust still sparkling in her eyes.

"Hurt? At being used?" Klorel raised his eyebrows, his face void of any emotion.

"At least mine was selfless, and not just an act to get myself out of trouble," Aster hissed.

"Your's was not selfless," Klorel replied coldly, ignoring the look of protest he received from Aster, "You wanted my host, you cared for him deeply. I saw your hurt in his memories of telling you he was betrothed, you wanted to prove yourself to him."

"That is not true," Aster denied, tears stinging in her eyes.

"It is."

"Well it's not the _whole_ truth!" she exploded, "That may have been a part of what I felt, but I went after him because he was my _friend_! My _best_ friend. Nothing else mattered, just him," Aster replied defensively, "Klorel I didn't do it to hurt you!"

"You betrayed me, who was that supposed to hurt?" Klorel seethed, storming away from her side and resuming his pacing around the room.

Aster scoffed at the Goa'uld Prince's flaring temper. '_Spoilt brat, don't you know how much it hurt me to leave you?_' The girl exhaled slowly. She calmed, "…Can you forgive me?"

Klorel was silent for a long while. Aster let him think, using the time she had to compose herself for having to defend Klorel in Triad.

She needed time with Zipacna to pull together a solid argument, with their different opinions and backgrounds they could well pull off a great argument… _'But it still leaves Skaara in torture_…'

'_I wish I could know if she were being truthful_…' Klorel's mind pleaded in frustration.

'_I believe she is_.'

'_It could be another act to save you._'

'_And all those times you said you would give anything to have her back_?'

'_Gone, now. I can not trust her_.'

"My Lord?" Zipacna interrupted the pin-drop silence, standing at attention in the doorway.

"Yes?"

"The Tollans grow impatient, we should start constructing our argument before the Triad starts," Zipacna informed the prince calmly.

"Understood. Go with him."

Aster nodded, taking Klorel's less-than-harsh tone to be an improvement. She followed Zipacna out of the spacious room to find a smaller one with greater privacy. Zipacna showed Aster in and shut the door behind them.

"Alrightie, so what do we have?" Aster sighed, ready to get down to business.

"Know before we begin that I have no intention of trusting a _Tau'ri_ with a diplomatic argument of this magnitude and importance to the Empire," Zipacna snarled, "No matter what Klorel may think of you."

"Right, now that I know that, can we start?" Aster asked impatiently, "Don't worry, I watch these kind of court-things on TV all the time. Except for the fact that there were no aliens. How familiar are you with the Triad proceedings?"

"I have a vague outline of how it works and the rules," Zipacna replied stonily.

"Good, that's more than I do. Okay, three great reasons why Klorel should get to have control over Skaara's body, what do we have?" Aster asked, taking a seat at the small table centred in the middle of the room. Zipacna took the opposite chair.

"Because the human host was Goa'uld property and because Goa'uld are more important than Tau'ri," Zipacna stated, clearly believing that they needed no further reasons.

"Good theory, but the opposition are really going to hate that. Danny is smart, he'll argue how much better the Goa'uld are… I say we go with the sympathy vote. …That Klorel will die without a host. How much to the Tollans know about Goa'uld physiology, anyway?"

"Not much, but your friends the Tau'ri know much. Too much," Zipacna growled.

"…What is it like to be a Goa'uld, anyway? And don't give me the '_nothing of the host survives_' speech, either," Aster added sharply.

Zipacna thought for a moment, sizing the girl up, "It is hard to describe, since I have little to compare it to. You are never alone in your mind; the host is always there. It is best to break the host early, that way it will be less distracting as the years progress. Our minds, our technology, our beings are so much greater than yours, and yet we cannot live without you… it is frustrating."

"Good, we could use some of this in the argument. Not the breaking bit though, you've got to make yourselves look likeable or they won't take our side," Aster reasoned, "Now, there is the argument that without a host, Klorel will die. Knowing Danny and O'Neill, they're going to argue that it could be, even _should be,_ anyone but Skaara. We have to argue that with one life for another isn't right."

"There will always have to be one suffering in order for the Goa'uld to survive," Zipacna nodded.

Aster sighed, '_I'm just sorry it had to be you, Skaara_.' "I hope they don't pull the volunteer argument, that another life that is willing to be a host should suffice, because we have nothing good to counteract that…"

"What of the other Tau'ri? You know them, their weaknesses," Zipacna leaned forward slightly, something sinister sparking in his eyes.

Aster groaned, "And what, betray my own people?"

"You've done it to Klorel."

"That was for the good of Skaara, which this completely counteracts."

"If Klorel does not win the Triad, hundreds of innocents will die. Think of that, then tell me any weaknesses we can use against them in this argument," Zipacna ordered coldly.

"Ooh… I'm going to be in so much trouble when I get back…" Aster moaned, head in her hands.

"When you get back?" the Goa'uld frowned in puzzled.

"Back home, to the Tau'ri planet. You know, after the Triad. …Oh, _please_ don't give me that look. I know that look. I'm not going back, am I?"

"Klorel has no intention of allowing you to return to the Tau'ri planet, no matter the outcome of the Triad."

Aster felt a small thrill run up her spine, "Really? He said that?"

"Yes."

"Then… what will happen to me?" Aster asked meekly.

"We will return to Chulak. Klorel did not tell me of his plans for you," Zipacna frowned, "But you are not to let the other Tau'ri know of this, or we will go to our second plan. Annihilate everything and leave."

"Not that I'm asking you to, but why not do that anyway?" Aster questioned, hoping she wasn't triggering anything by saying this.

Zipacna smirked, "You do not need to know why not. Are you able to lie to your friends during the Triad?"

"All I worry about is Skaara right now. He will always be my best friend, no matter how much Klorel means to me," Aster vowed solemnly.

"There will always be one who has to be the host," Zipacna reminded her, getting up from the table.

"I know. But there are others out there that deserve that fate more than Skaara ever will. I could even name a few in my own apartment block that I would gladly have trade host with Klorel any day…"

Zipacna sniggered, "Just remember, Tau'ri, I have superior word over you. Do not speak until you are instructed to."

"Whatever." '_Like **you** of all people could shut me up_.'

Aster then went back to where Klorel waited, Zipacna going to tell Travell that they were ready for the Triad to begin. '_I hope Skaara doesn't hate me for this_,' Aster thought desperately.

"K—My Lord?" Aster corrected herself, walking into the Goa'uld prince's room.

"You do not need to call me that," Klorel told her, a little sadness in his voice.

Aster smirked, "_Master_?"

Klorel laughed, "Oh, yes, that's much better," he purred in jest, "No, please call me by my name, like you used to…" Klorel took her hands gently, searching the girl's wide blue eyes. For what, Aster couldn't say. She could feel a warm blush creeping over her cheeks.

"Um, alright," Aster grinned, "Zippy has just told the Tollans that we're ready for trial—Triad, sorry."

"Good," Klorel nodded. He led the way to the Triad room, flanked by the Tollan guards.

oOoOoOo

"This dispute involves two sentient being who inhabit the same body. Both have requested sole use of the body, therefore we must establish the right of priority over the body to whom does it belong."

"Ostensibly the one to whom it was born!"

'_Oh Gawd, here we go_…' Aster put her head in her hands.

Zipacna stood up suddenly, startling Aster, "Your Eminence, I must request that the human contingent follow decorum appropriate to such an auspicious body as this one."

'Objection, eh?' Aster mused to herself, preparing herself for the rebuttal she would be giving after O'Neill and Daniel had given their side of the story. Travell 'sustained' Zipacna's claim; Aster smiled to herself '_Nice suck-up_.'

Then Zipacna gave his opening statement. Aster gave the Goa'uld a dangerous look, "What happened to our argument?" she hissed quietly.

"Be quiet, Tau'ri," Zipacna growled in warning. Aster scowled, sitting back into her chair in a huff.

"—I would first like to hear Skaara's perspective," Travell announced, cutting through Aster's thoughts. She was still wondering if she could stand up in front of everyone and question Skaara.

'_There always has to be one who is the host…_' Aster felt her mind drift into a revere, trying to argue the point of her case without getting herself sucked into it, '_Why should Skaara keep his body? Why shouldn't he?_' Aster groaned, her brain at war with itself.

"Just so we can all be clear, who was Ra?"

'_The only Goa'uld I've met so far that isn't completely mad_.'

oOoOoOo

"Finally," Aster muttered, standing up when Travell called her side of the Triad to question Skaara. Zipacna stood up faster, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing down, causing Aster to crash back into her seat, "HEY!"

Travell frowned, "Archons, is there a problem?"

"There is not," Zipacna answered, his tone clipped.

"Really? Good, I'm asking first—"

"You will be seated."

Skaara cleared his throat quietly, intercepting before Travell could get too angry with the pair, "I… Klorel wishes for Aster to speak first," he told them meekly.

Aster grinned, "Thanks!" she walked over to the area where Skaara stood, smoothening out the black military-issue t-shirt she was wearing, "No hard feelings, right?"

"None at all," Skaara smiled encouragingly.

"Thanks… Okay. Skaara, you are aware that there always has to be a host for every Goa'uld, as they cannot live without one, correct?"

"That is correct."

"Then why do you believe you are above every other possible host out there? That your life will matter more than the next person that will have to be Klorel's host, as there will always have to be one," Aster asked him crisply, fighting hard to keep her face and posture free of emotion.

"Because I believe that Klorel should have a host willing to be his host. A volunteer," Skaara replied soundly.

"A volunteer? Who?" Aster paused for a moment, letting Skaara's mind stumble over that one, "Since you _are_ his current host, is it not your responsibility to _find_ this volunteer for Klorel? You can't just leave Klorel to die on the streets and claim he is someone else's problem. He would die."

Skaara thought hard on this one, "If I win this Triad, the Tok'ra will remove Klorel from me. They could find a volunteer, because that is their philosophy on hosts."

'_Damn, good answer_,' Aster's mind commented. She saw O'Neill and Daniel grinning out of the corner of her eye.

"There is also the question of wether or not you are worthy of custody of your own body. It's quite a privilege, since there aren't enough to go around. The sarcophagus has healed them completely from sight, but I remember on Abydos seeing your collection of scars. There were a lot of them, weren't there?"

"Yes… some from the mines, fighting against Ra's forces and some accidents from my childhood," Skaara nodded.

"Accidents that left scars? That doesn't sound like you're taking very good care of your body. In fact, you could be quite dangerous," Aster smiled, "During the time I was with Klorel, I never saw him so much as prick a finger. He took very good care of your body. Did Klorel ever engage in such activity that got himself so horribly scarred?"

Skaara looked at the table, then back up, smiling softly, "Yes."

Aster looked shocked, "He did? When? Where?" she asked quickly, concern breaking through her emotionless mask.

Skaara placed a hand over his heart, "There."

"Aw, that's so cute! Can I hug you? Aw…" Aster smiled as the two of them exchanged a brief but friendly hug.

"He has forgiven you," Skaara whispered in her ear, making sure for it not to be heard or noticed by anyone else.

"Hey, your honour, that can't be allowed!" O'Neill called out, sounding like a five-year-old 'grossed-out' by the kissing scene at the end of the movie.

'_Oh, why not…?_' Klorel thought with dismay, '_With us sitting down and her standing up, it's quite a view…_'

'**_KLOREL_**!' Skaara's mind cried out, appalled.

"Tau'ri, take your seat," Zipacna ordered Aster, rising abruptly from his own chair.

"I'll be back."

Aster then sighed dramatically, reluctantly returning to her seat. She took her seat at their table and watched Zipacna completely destroy the case, bulldozing through her carefully crafted argument. It was almost as if he _wanted_ them to loose. Aster rolled her eyes, '_Too much naquadah in the brain, that one_.'

oOoOoOo

"The Triad will have a brief intermission for the parties to rest and prepare themselves for the conclusion of the Triad," Travell announced, more to give herself a break from O'Neill and Zipacna's constant bickering.

Skaara got to his feet. He paused, unsure of where he stood; '_Do I go with lord Zipacna now, or O'Neer?_'

'_Zipacna. I have much to discuss with him_.'

'_And Aster happening to be on the same side is just a perk, hmm, Klorel?_'

'_Oh, but of course_.'

'_Nice perk, though_.'

'_Indeed, very perky_.'

'…'

Before Skaara could follow Zipacna out of the room, O'Neill finally spoke out, "Nuh-uh, kid, you're coming with us this time."

"You are mistaken Tau'ri," Zipacna replied sharply, "I am Lord Klorel's appointed guardian, he is to remain under my watch the entire duration of this Triad."

"Oh yeah? Well I'm Skaara's guardian," O'Neill snarled, taking the challenge.

"Actually, you were never appointed as Skaara's guardian, and Abydanian law states that Skaara is of an age to take care of himself…" Aster pointed out promptly.

"Smith, shut up," O'Neill muttered under his breath, still glaring daggers at Zipacna.

"And since Klorel is Goa'uld royalty, it is required that he has an appointed guardian at all times, be it a first prime or another Goa'uld appointed by his father—"

"SMITH! Be quiet, that's an order!" O'Neill yelled.

Aster's mouth sealed abruptly from shock. O'Neill had never yelled at her so fiercely before.

"Yes, sir."

"No." Klorel's eyes glowed ominously as he glowered at O'Neill; "She will not take orders from you. Ever." The intensity of Klorel's glare was startling. "Asuta was brought here by my request, not yours. It is not your place to give orders to her here, O'Neer," Klorel hissed the last word with narrow eyes, knowing how greatly it would effect the Tau'ri calling him the name Skaara used to use.

Anger flared in O'Neill's eyes, "I am her commanding officer—"

"I quit."

It seemed the entire courtroom of the Triad, all whom had been watching the soap opera unfold, suddenly turned their eyes on Aster, including O'Neill and Klorel, "What?"

Aster could only feel the numbness running through her body. Her voice was resolute; "I quit." Aster looked to Klorel, meeting his concerned gaze.

"What?" O'Neill repeated incredulously.

"Why?" Klorel asked, the concern in his voice sounding so real that O'Neill could have almost mistook him for being human.

Aster's shimmering eyes met with Klorel's, "Kel a'nekh hanae nok," she whispered tearfully, ''I cannot live without you.''

"A'ne…" Klorel murmured consolingly, rushing over to her side and embracing her tightly. Aster clung desperately to the Goa'uld in turn while Klorel murmured comforting words to steady her.

Zipacna stared disbelievingly at the strong bond apparent between the two beings, a love surpassing time and even race… Zipacna heard a muffled sniff from the Jaffa beside him. '_Great, now the serpent guards are getting emotional…_'

Lya bit her lip, '_A Goa'uld expressing empathy? It… it's unheard of…_' Seeing how much Klorel and the human girl cared for each other complicated matters. '_How should I be able to choose a side now? To separate the Tau'ri girl and Klorel… Probably the only Goa'uld in existence to love so selflessly. If I destroyed that love, I could be destroying the only chance of hope for our universe. But that is only speculation, I cannot overlook the fact that the Goa'uld's host is still a prisoner…_' Lya's head buzzed painfully with the stress.

''Come, let us get lunch,'' Klorel murmured gently into Aster's rust-coloured hair.

"Okay," Aster nodded, pulling out of the embrace to dry her eyes. She smiled weakly up at Klorel. The Goa'uld returned the smile and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, leading her out of the Triad chamber with him.

''I'm sorry for what happened on the Ha'tak, I really am.''

''As am I, but I shouldn't have treated you as I did before the Triad,'' Klorel sighed, ''I only beg for your forgiveness.''

"Of course," Aster smiled up at him. The two continued walking down the pristine hallways, "What happens now?" Aster asked, breaking the silence, "I mean… after the Triad…"

Klorel's embrace around her shoulders tightened reflexively, "No matter the outcome of the Triad, we will return to Chulak, or perhaps Erebus. We shall remain together, that I promise you."

"And Skaara?"

"Shall remain my host, unless you say otherwise—Asuta," Skaara's voice broke free of the Goa'uld, the light on the Tollan device switching to blue. Skaara let go of Aster's shoulders, instead taking her wrist gently.

Aster pulled back, "Skaara…"

"Asuta, listen to me," Skaara pleaded. Aster stood still, giving the Abydanian her full attention. Skaara sighed, wondering where to begin, "You love Klorel, yes?"

Aster nodded nervously, "Skaara, you know I don't want to condemn you to this."

"Asuta, I am in love with my betrothed as you are in love with Klorel. You know how this feels. I want to be back home, on Abydos, with Wia…"

"And what about Klorel?" Aster asked quietly.

"He will find another host…"

"It will always be '_another host_', Skaara. Who are you thinking of when you say that, anyway? The Tok'ra? They would never actually _try_ to save the life of a Goa'uld—" Aster snarled, staring at the marble floor.

"A volunteer! Somebody who actually _wants_ this curse!" Skaara immediately regretted his outburst, mumbling some obscure apology in Abydanian.

"There, you've said it yourself. It's a curse, no one would willingly have Klorel put in their head, no offence to Klorel," Aster closed her eyes, "If you desert Klorel, there will be no one."

"There will be someone," Skaara reassured optimistically, "There has to be."

Aster shook her head sadly; "Life is never fair like that. Anyway, it's up to the Triad to decide," the teen shrugged.

"But even if I win the Triad, Zipacna's forces will attack… I will never be rid of Klorel." Skaara whispered in despair.

"If you win the Triad, I will _make_ Klorel return you to Abydos," Aster promised solemnly, "And even if we win… I'll do my best to find another host as soon as possible, okay?"

Skaara turned to her in surprise, which melted into admiration and gratitude, "Asuta… Thank you, that is very generous of you."

"No, it's not. It's less than what you deserve, but I don't want to let Klorel go…" Aster held her aching head in her hands, "I don't know what to do…"

"Letting the Triad decide is a good idea. Lya will judge fairly, and O'Neer and Daniel will be both strong and wise…"

Aster sighed heavily, "Zipacna will lose our case," she snorted, "And Lya will take Earth's side. Everyone against the bad guys, that's always the story…"

"But we will still be together," Klorel reassured the girl.

Aster jumped, "You guys gotta give more warning when you do that…"

Klorel chuckled, "Are you hungry?"

"Starving. I missed breakfast coming here, you know," the girl playfully jabbed Klorel in the arm.

"I'm sorry to hear that. How has your life been on the Tau'ri planet since you returned, anyway?"

"Utterly miserable, how was Chulak?"

" '_Utterly miserable_' describes it exactly," Klorel chuckled.

oOoOoOo

"How did the Triad thing go?" Sam asked.

"Well… I think we're winning the argument…" Daniel started uneasily.

"Aster quit."

"What?" Sam looked from Daniel to O'Neill in surprise, "You mean, she quit the Triad?"

"No, she quit the SGC," Daniel grimaced, "Jack and her got into a dispute and…"

"She quit."

"Does this not concern you, O'Neill?" Teal'c questioned, noticing the colonel's disinterest in the conversation.

"It concerns me, yeah." O'Neill grumbled, "That makes Aster another one of the kids we've lost to the Goa'uld."

"Well at least she'll be happy with Klorel. You know how miserable she was when she came back," Daniel scowled.

"He's a snakehead. He's probably using her to get the GDO codes," the colonel growled.

"Aster would never betray Earth. I've known her long enough to figure that. She'd never put a planet into jeopardy."

"What dispute caused Aster Smith to quit the SGC Colonel O'Neill?"

"I ordered her to shut up. Klorel went nuts at me for telling Aster what to do and Aster said she quit."

"You ordered her to shut up?" Sam frowned.

oOoOoOo

"Do you have any preferences on what host I should choose next? Light-skinned? Dark-skinned?" Klorel handed Aster her cup of tea and took his own from the small kitchen alcove in the Tollan chamber.

"I more judge people on what they are on the inside than what they look like," Aster replied wryly.

Klorel smirked fondly, "I know you do. But all humans have predispositions, tell me yours," the Goa'uld purred in her ear, feigning desperation.

Aster stifled a giggle, feeling the goose bumps rising on her neck, "Klorel! You're going to make me spill this."

"Hmm," Klorel sat down beside her on the plush Tollan couch. He ran his fingers through Aster's red locks, "Someone with red hair, maybe?"

"Black hair. And it wouldn't hurt if they volunteered either," Aster murmured into her tea, her cheeks blushing to match the colour of her hair.

"I shall put out a request to the people of Erebus," Klorel decided, "It would not hurt if my host was one of them. I could relate better to them, then."

"Thank you, it means a lot to me…" Aster smiled, snuggling closer to the Goa'uld.

"My lo—" Zipacna walked in, paused, and made a face, "My Lord Klorel, the Tau'ri are suspicious of our plans concerning the Tollan defence system."

"Why are you telling me this?" Klorel asked dryly, "You know I have no idea what your plans are for stopping the Tollan."

"Stopping the Tollan _if_ you loose the Triad," Aster pointed out.

"The attack is inevitable," Zipacna spat.

Aster's eyes lit up in anger, "No. You, _both_ of you," she stole a glare at Klorel, "Said that you would only resort to that if Klorel lost the Triad to get him off the planet and to remove the Tollan device."

"The plans have changed," Zipacna informed her coldly.

"Leave." Klorel ordered. With Zipacna too stunned to respond Klorel stood, "Now."

"Y-Yes my Lord," Zipacna clasped his hands behind his back and bowed reverently. Klorel watched Zipacna leave before returning to Aster's side.

''I draw the line at bloodshed,'' Aster stated in a neutral tone.

''I know,'' Klorel sighed, ''And I wish it were avoidable.''

''But…?''

"If I left this place without attacking it I would fall further in my father's opinion. And once word gets out that the Tollan have technology that can silence a Goa'uld… the System Lords will have this planet destroyed. A small attack and a small lie could save this planet," Klorel stated calmly.

"Why would you be interested in saving planets?" Aster frowned.

"I'm not. Personally, I would love too see this entire planet burned to ashes and its people put into slavery, but I know how you feel about harming other races. I don't want to see you upset. If that means refraining from destroying helpless Tau'ri…" the Goa'uld explained.

"Aw, Klorel," Aster wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tenderly, "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!"

"If it gets your body this close to mine then it is more than worth it—" Klorel was silenced by Aster's lips on his own. The girl pulled back after a beat, blushing.

Klorel looked frozen in time. Aster giggled. Klorel smirked, regaining himself, "Well that was better than I ever expected," the Goa'uld pulled Aster closer to him, affectionately rubbing noses with her, "I liked that…"

"Oh good, just making sure with you first," Aster laughed sarcastically. She kissed him again, briefly, but Klorel wrapped his arms around the girl, holding her to him. Letting her own arms wind around Klorel's neck, Aster let the world dissolve away and got lost in their kiss. Klorel started to let his hands roam…

"Hey! Hey! No fornicating with the enemy!" Colonel O'Neill's sharp voice resonated through the small, square room. He, Sam and Daniel stood in the doorway. O'Neill was the only one _not_ shocked.

Klorel reluctantly pulled Aster's shirt back down over her midriff, "Do you take pleasure in interrupting other peoples' intimate moments?" the Goa'uld growled dangerously.

"No. But—"

"Really, Jack, you're wrecking the mood," Aster told her former C.O coolly, her arms still encircled around Klorel's neck.

"What is it you want?"

"I need to have a little talk with our buddy Skaara," O'Neill smiled tightly.

"First of all, you would need Zipacna here before you're allowed anywhere near Klorel. You can't be trusted," Aster pointed out.

"Oh, but we do have Zippy with us," O'Neill grinned.

Klorel frowned, "Where?"

"Right here, my Lord," came Zipacna's disgruntled voice from around the corner of the doorframe, "I do not wish to disturb you."

'_Or be disturbed himself_,' Skaara's little voice pointed out.

''If there were a stone pillar in this room I would gladly bang my head against it,'' Klorel muttered the ancient Goa'uld proverb.

"A'ne," Aster smiled kindly, ''You could always bang me,'' the teen giggled.

''Gladly, love, but we have company,'' Klorel chuckled, touching noses with her again.

"Hey, don't you two start that again. If you excuse us, we _really_ need to talk with Skaara about something," O'Neill pressed loudly. He could see Zipacna leaning against the corridor wall and looking considerably disgusted.

"And the Triad will be starting shortly," Daniel squeaked before Klorel could explode at O'Neill again.

Aster sighed, letting go of Klorel's neck and feeling the blood rush back into her arms, "I'd better go talk to Zippy about what we're going to do for the Triad," Aster smiled lopsidedly. She gave the Goa'uld one last hug and felt some sort of daunting premonition that the embrace would be her last with Skaara.

Klorel seemed to sense it too; ''I love you.''

''I love you too. And Skaara, my best friend,'' Aster smiled sadly, "See you soon."

"I hope so."

oOoOoOo

"So, Zippy, what are we _not_ going to argue this time?" Aster smirked pointedly, pacing around the small, private discussion room.

"You," Zipacna sneered, "Will not be attending."

The colour drained from Aster's face; "No. Klorel will kill you…"

"The Tau'ri made a futile attempt to interview the host on what he knew about the serpent guards defacing the energy cannons. Lord Klorel is very wary of these Tau'ri, he would not doubt a report that they forced you to return to the Tau'ri planet against your will. You will not be participating in the rest of this Triad," Zipacna explained with an icy clip in his voice.

"Why?" Aster whispered.

Zipacna wrinkled his nose, as if the Tau'ri before him gave off a foul stench, "You bring disgrace and shame to the Goa'uld. The two of you must not be allowed to exist together, it would _destroy_ who we are!" the Goa'uld roared.

Aster was visibly shaking by now. Her hand latched onto the chair in front of her and she distantly wondered if _anyone_ would hear her if she screamed. But the Goa'uld didn't usually give that opportunity to their victims, "W-what are you going to do?" her attempt at sounding brave faltered horribly.

Aster stared at the wrong end of the Zat'n'kitel gun pointed at her, feeling her skin prickle in anticipation. The blue arc of energy hit her square in the chest; Aster collapsed like a sculpture made of jelly, twisting about on the floor in debilitating pain. Zipacna muttered something, but Aster wasn't listening. She felt his feet thud across the floor as the Goa'uld left the room.

Aster forced herself to sit up, biting back the pain. Her vision cleared in time to see Zipacna exit the room, tossing something small and spherical into the room before closing the door behind him.

'_A shock grenade_,' Aster's mind registered distantly, '_This is gonna hurt…_'

oOoOoOo

Klorel calmly followed the Tollan guards to the Triad, escorted alone as he was the centre of the Triad's dispute. He took his seat at the centre table and sat down. His twin brown eyes focused intently on the doorway that led to the Goa'uld quarters. He hoped that Zipacna had not been too commanding of her, he knew how hostile the minor Goa'uld could get.

However, when Klorel saw only Zipacna enter the room, he felt the pit of his stomach drop. Skaara was in control of the body, Klorel couldn't do anything.

'_Where is she? Where **is** she?_'

'_Late, maybe?_'

'_You know Aster as well as I do, Skaara. She would not be late. Not for this_.'

Skaara was surprised; Klorel _never_ called him by his name. Skaara looked with concern to the minor Goa'uld taking his seat at the table not far behind him, but did not get the opportunity to ask where his Tau'ri lady was.

"Lord Zipacna, you are only half of your arguing party. Where is Klorel's other archon?" Travell asked curtly.

"I do not know. Perhaps you should ask the Tau'ri," Zipacna muttered, glaring daggers at O'Neill and Daniel. Skaara's head whipped around to face his friends so fast his neck clicked, causing Klorel to momentarily wriggle about in pain.

"What? We don't know where she is," Daniel answered blankly, "Skaara?"

"I thought she was with Zipacna," Skaara answered honestly.

"The girl said she had to talk with the Tau'ri about an issue, I have yet to see her since."

"Earth archons?" Travell scowled.

"We dunno," O'Neill shrugged, "I mean she was fine before…" the Colonel coughed, muttering something under his breath, "When she was sucking snake-head's face off."

'_Klorel, I'm worried_,' Skaara's mind stated. Skaara sensed a lingering thought in the depths of Klorel's mind that slowly began to surface, '_No, Klorel. This is not betrayal. There's no motive…_'

'_Saving you?_' fear poured through Klorel's thoughts. Had he fallen for her trickery again? Had this all been an act, again? '_Why…?'_

'_Klorel, don't think like that. I know her, she **loves** you_,' Skaara was more worried that something had happened to his friend. Klorel felt like he was going to be ill. Skaara's face mimicked the Goa'uld's internal feelings.

"What about our buddy Zippy? Where was _he_ when Smith went missing?" O'Neill asked suspiciously.

"O'Neer, we do not know where she is," Skaara interrupted shakily, "We are worried… it is not like her."

Skaara's explanation used the word '_we'_ a few too many times for O'Neill's liking.

oOoOoOo

The pounding inside Aster's head eventually woke the redhead from unconsciousness. There was a metallic taste in her mouth, blood, from her cut lip. She must've fallen pretty hard. Aster let out a long moan of discomfort. "When I get my hands on that Goa'uld—" she growled maliciously.

Slowly, the girl rolled over onto her knees. Her world was completely black. Aster's fingers delicately touched her eyes to make sure there was nothing obscuring her vision. There was nothing.

"…Shock grenade…" Aster spat.

Her hands groped around for the wall; She starting to see again… the after-effects of the shock grenade were wearing off. Aster ran headlong into the door, fidgeted around for the handle and tumbled out of the room.

oOoOoOo

Lya knew the final decision of Klorel's fate was before her. She dreaded making the final judgement. The Goa'uld archon Zipacna, Aster _still_ no where to be found, had cast his vote. So had the Tau'ri. It was now up to her to decide… The Nox looked at the entity before her, the two beings trapped in the same body. Skaara and Klorel.

"Nox archon?"

Lya placed her pale hands on the table and stood. She cleared he throat softly, "A-After careful consideration—"

There was a heavy thud from outside of the room. One of the guards ran into the Triad hall, "We found her," the Tollan announced breathlessly.

"I found myself!" Aster's voice snapped. Klorel nearly jumped to his feet at the sight of his beloved. A cut lip and several developing bruises to her forehead decorated her pallid face. Klorel's mind stirred with worry.

The girl stumbled into the room, devoid of any balance. Her narrowed eyes found Zipacna and she flung the spent shock grenade at the Goa'uld.

The metal ball missed Zipacna's head by half an inch and crashed into the wall behind him, leaving a little black mark at the collision point, "**NEVER**," she yelled, "Do that to me again you shifty _bastard_!"

'_I told you she wasn't avoiding you. Zipacna just knocked her out with a shock grenade. You see, it's not always about you Klorel_.'

'_Zipacna will die for this. Wait, better yet, I will put him on Triad so he can lose his host too_,' Klorel's eyes burned with hatred at the Goa'uld underling, '_Shifty bastard indeed_.'

"That explains her absence," Daniel muttered under his breath, "Mutiny? Why would he do that to Aster? He could have used her to gain sympathy for Klorel. It doesn't make sense."

"Oh it makes sense alright. Zippy hates the Tau'ri more than he's worried about losing the Triad. You know what that means?" O'Neill huffed.

"What?"

O'Neill growled; "They have a 'plan B'."

"Aster Smith, please take your seat. This Triad has seen enough tardiness and interruptions as it is. The Nox archon will now cast the final vote deciding who has supreme ownership of the body before me," Travell gestured at Skaara and Klorel, "And then the Triad will be over."

Aster obediently took her seat at the Goa'uld archons' table. She shuffled her seat as far away from Zipacna as possible.

"Nox archon?" Travell repeated stiffly. Lya nodded and began again.

Aster bit her lip, '_Oh, please let it be Klorel… Teal'c and Carter know about the invasion. If Zipacna's forces attack, they will lose_. _Klorel will be lost…_' Aster sombrely recalled what she had over heard in her head. Teal'c's assumption on how the Goa'uld would attack the Tollan defence system… Lya disguising the ion cannon…

"After careful consideration…"

'_Klorel, don't leave me…_' Aster's mind pleaded.

"I believe that both Klorel and Skaara have the right to live," Lya swallowed, "Both Klorel and Skaara have people that care about them and they will be mourned should either be lost… Both _are_ beings of great significance."

The atmosphere of the room was incredibly tense. Utter silence fell as Lya paused.

"But, living as a host with no right of ones own, is not life."

'_No…_' dread welled up inside Aster's stomach.

'_Damn_,' Klorel cursed flatly.

'_Ooh, **yes**! Take that, snake heads,_' O'Neill mentally whooped.

'_Klorel is going to kill me for this…_' Zipacna despaired.

"Therefore, only one can remain in the body. To that end, I award priority to the original owner of the body…" Lya stated shakily.

"Don't do it," Aster whispered fearfully.

"Skaara."

oOoOoOo

* * *

Term One is over! And now with a two-week break, I can get back into writing and doing the fun stuff:) I hope you will all forgive me for such a long wait, school is a nightmare. I've tried to make it up with an extra long chapter, the second last in this story. Yup, the next chapter will be the finale. I'll leave you to speculate on what the finale will be. A happy ending for Aster and Klorel or not?

**Apocalyptic Muse**: Please forgive the lateness of this chapter. And I stuck the Ra'bik's cube in to fill up space because of the chapter layouts that I had formulated. A short one there and a long one here. Man, this gave me so many writer's blocks… I had to start from scratch at one point, lol.

**Blanc**: Thanks! It was fun to draw Aster, but a lot of my friends on my site psycho-llama. thought that the hand holding the tray was shorter than the other, when it was supposed to be a perspective thing. Yay for Australia! Can you see me waving? lives in NZ :D

**Kat**: Thank you! I hoped that line would make some smile. O'Neill is so fun to play around with, but I could never use him as a main character in a fanfic, unfortunately. :D enjoy the new chapter!

**Isha**: Oops, sorry. I can be quite culturally insensitive… and I've only recently taken up history. My sincerest apologies… hugs Happy end? ;) Wouldn't you like to know.

**Blanc**: I'm typing as fast as I can!

**Terra Evans**: Aw, thank you so much! A new reviewer:D I shall update and here it is! Do enjoy!


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